SF Food Bank Pleads For Donations

San Francisco CA

28 December, 2021

10:57 AM

Description

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Officials with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank said Monday that their organization is urgently seeking funds as it continues to face challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Issues with labor shortages, increased transportation costs and food prices, and food scarcity have intensified over the last year, hindering the organization's ability to provide people in need with groceries, food bank officials said. Faced with higher expenses, the food bank is hoping to raise 60 percent of its annual budget by the year's end. "We need to raise 60 percent of our annual budget in the last few days of the year to fulfill the financial goals required to meet the needs of our community," San Francisco-Marin Food Bank Executive Director Tanis Crosby said in a statement. "We're working to keep up with rising food prices from supply chain problems, but it all puts a huge strain on our financial resources, making year end giving more critical, and with the Omicron variant surging, we are deeply concerned that the need for food assistance will keep growing into a significant part of 2022. We're asking everyone in the community to step up and give whatever they can and join us in ending hunger," she said. Currently, the food bank distributes about one million meals to more than 50,000 households. Prior to that pandemic, the organization served significantly less at 32,000 households a week. Food bank recipients are enrolled through the state program CalFresh, with the organization offering home deliveries of groceries, which includes fresh fruits and vegetables, organization officials said. To donate or volunteer, visit www.sfmfoodbank.org. Copyright © 2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. Patch has partnered with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2021, more than 42 million Americans won't have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Make a donation to Feeding America