In 1974, several resourceful and innovative community members realized that while thousands of neighbors were hungry, local growers were throwing away millions of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. True to Silicon Valley’s innovative nature, these community members founded what is now Second Harvest of Silicon Valley – in a strip garage. Fifty years later, that spirit of innovation, resourcefulness and community involvement is stronger than ever.
For 50 years, since 1974, we were founded to feed local neighbors with good food rescued from local growers, retail outlets and individuals. Today, we still lead the way in food rescue, diverting 93M pounds of high-quality food away from landfills and other destinations last year alone and providing it to neighbors facing hunger. But instead of managing food collection from barrels placed in the community and organized through community food drives, we’ve found a more efficient way to ensure our community has access to nutritious food.
Do You Remember Food Collection Barrels?
For 45 years, from 1976 to 2020, we ran traditional food collection drives to supplement the food we sourced. Our barrels were a familiar sight in the community, particularly during the holidays, but traditional food drives are not the most effective way to get food for our clients.
“We ended up moving 5,000 barrels three times within a food drive season. So that’s 15,000 barrels a year. You’d send them out, you’d bring them back. You’d empty them out. You’d send them out, you’d bring them back, you’d empty them out. You’d send them out, you’d bring them back, you’d empty them out. All through October, November, December to mid-January. That was our holiday season. That was a significant part of our food distribution program,” remembers Cathylee Brunelle, Senior Warehouse Manager at Second Harvest.
In 2020, we suspended our collection of food donations from individuals due to pandemic safety concerns and a need to prioritize efficiency. Demand for food assistance spiked to historic levels, doubling to 500,000 people turning to us for food every month. We quickly adapted our operations to meet the incredible need in our community.
After researching and totaling the cost of producing and transporting the barrels, and managing and marketing the campaigns, we realized traditional food drives are actually more expensive than purchasing food, which allows us to control what we get and better ensure that our clients have consistent access to the nutritious foods they need to thrive.
Returning to accepting, weighing, sorting and transporting barrels of food from traditional food drives would have disrupted the more effective procedures we created during lockdown, and adopting this change permanently allows us to remain client-focused by continuing to operate at the highest level of efficiency possible.
We are able to obtain food at a very low cost by employing efficient food sourcing strategies. We rescue food that might otherwise go to waste from produce growers, food manufacturers and retailers. We negotiate low prices around large-volume, bulk purchases. We also receive donations of commodities from the federal government as price support for farmers.
When you contribute financially, you enable us to offer a greater quantity of nutritious groceries compared to donating store-bought food.
How You Can Support Us Today
Mga fundraiser ng komunidad can be just as fun and inspiring as traditional food drives, without the need to physically gather food. You can still incorporate all the team-building activities and social aspects of running a food drive, and your efforts will actually be more impactful because the dollars you raise will provide even more nutritious food for the families we serve.
With monetary donations, we are able to purchase food at bulk prices so the dollars go further, and we can select a nutritious mix of items kids, families and seniors need to stay healthy. In fact, a $1 donation helps us provide enough food for two nutritious meals.
Transitioning from food drives to community fundraisers has allowed us to continue operating at the highest level of efficiency possible to meet the historic level of need in our community. The best way to support our work is to start a fundraiser o boluntaryo.
Valued Support Over the Years
We know that many individuals, companies and organizations have invested countless hours running food drives for Second Harvest, and we honor your commitment to our mission. We are incredibly grateful for your continued loyalty.
Although we have retired our traditional food drives, and no longer provide food collection barrels, check out how food drives have transformed into community fundraising over the years.
We have always had enthusiastic support from local school children. When we transitioned away from traditional food drives in 2020, kids really showed their creativity for giving back to their communities.
Linda Bookman and her 11-year-old son Evan started a Home Helpers fundraiser as a continuation from a food drive they did during the holidays in 2017. Their traditional food drive focused on bringing home-cooked meals to the unhoused residents of their community. In 2021, they passed along the link to Evan’s neighborhood friends, and to family members. The most impactful lesson Linda learned is that one person really can make a big difference and you don’t have to wait until your adult years to be of service.
Second Harvest is grateful for the support we’ve received over the years from local companies. During the holiday season in 1986, more than 300 companies, clubs and individuals collected food for the holiday food drive called “Project Happy Holidays” with a grand total of 268,000 pounds of food donated. FedEx delivered barrels to 150 locations around Santa Clara County and KNTV, Channel 11 and Apple Computer were honored for their contributions to this year’s food drive. A special one-day televised celebration was sponsored by KNTV at Christmas in the Park, encouraging families to bring food.
In 2024, companies are still donating monetarily to Second Harvest, but it often happens online. In 48 hours in October, 11 participating companies in Silicon Valley competed online to raise funds to help provide food for more than 1.1 million meals!
Dartmouth Middle School started its very first Second Harvest food drive in 1989 after the Loma Prieta Earthquake. In 2020, they transitioned to online fundraising and are still going strong today. In the 35 years they have been supporting Second Harvest, they have raised a lifetime total of 234,590; that has helped provide enough food for 469,180 meals. In 2024, their goal is to raise an additional $20,000.
In times of natural disasters, financial crisis, fires, recessions, or medical emergencies, the food bank has always been here for our community. Collectively, we have always found a way — whether in emergencies or all year round. Together, we can continue to meet the immediate need for food assistance in the short term and work to end hunger in our community in the long term.