More than a half-dozen Bay Area food banks got a big boost Saturday from Safeway stores, volunteer groups and NBC Bay Area.
From Morgan Hill to Marin county today, NBC Bay Area anchors and reporters encouraged Safeway shoppers to donate $10 for a bagful of groceries that will be distributed to those in need.
As of Saturday morning, Safeway officials reported that people had bought $18,044 bags.
"It takes a family of four with two working adults, $86,000 a year to meet basic living needs in Alameda County," said Mike Altfest, of the Alameda County Community Food Bank.
"I have a job and so does my husband. It’s important to give back to the community," said Nancy Davis, who took a $10 coupon to the cash register at a Safeway in Santa Clara’s Rivermark Village.
The TV personalities were joined in Cupertino by future business leaders of America members.
"Sometimes people don’t realize it because we are in such an affluent area, but there are people in need," said Naomi Jung, a senior at Homestead High school.
Local
And San jose junior league members told us their efforts at Safeway were paying off.
"So far, we’ve been able to give out 75 bags of groceries in about three hours," said Mindy Zimmer of San Jose’s Junior League.
A quarter of a million people each month receive groceries from San Jose’s second harvest food bank.
"We’re a little concerned that with the upbeat economy, people won’t realize the need is as great as during the recession," said Deborah McGaw, Donor Services Specialist with Second Harvest Food Bank.
Last year, the food drive that extends through Christmas Eve, collected 144,000 bags of groceries, roughly 1.6 million pounds of food for people in need, throughout the Bay Area.
