At a time when so many people are recovering from a Thanksgiving feast, food banks are hoping you’ll think of them. Many Bay Area food banks use the time between now and Christmas to feed families year-round.
At Second Harvest of Santa Clara and San Mateo and Counties, it’s a busy time. Employees and volunteers are pushing for donations and packing food for the hungry. Second Harvest says one in 10 people in those two counties depend on the food they provide.
"If you were to take Levi's Stadium and fill it up four times over, that's the number of people receiving some of their food from Second Harvest," said Tami Cardenas, Second Harvest Vice President of Marketing and Development.
Right now, they're aiming to raise $15 million and 2 million pounds of food during the holiday season.
"Because the economy is doing better…the cost of living in the area is going up which is making it more and more difficult for the people we're serving, who make $20,000 or less a year, to survive," Cardenas said.
The food goes to people like Irene Beaumont and her two girls. The Beaumonts receive a bag of produce each month to help supplement their meals.
"I want people to know they either will be in this position at some point in their life, or they know someone in this position, and I want them to be able to help," Beaumont said.
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Beaumont says the subprime mortgage crisis, and bills from a family medical emergency pushed them into a position where they needed help.
"You'd have to take away from the food fund in order to pay the PG&E, the water bill, your everyday expenses."
The family gives back by volunteering for the food bank. The girls also pick up donated groceries on the weekend to deliver to other families.
NBC Bay Area is partnering with Safeway to make it easy to donate. You can stop by any local Safeway and buy a pre-packaged $10 bag of food up until Christmas. That food will go to families in need across the Bay Area.
