The Foundation’s Senior Accountant Maria Ruñez Patrick (middle) on the assembly line with fellow staff, Tina Bryce and Kerry Wood
As I reminisce about the times my sons and I have volunteered throughout the years, the common theme of the places we choose is to ensure food access to those in need. We’ve cut hundreds of onions, served thousands of people and packed even more brown bags and boxes. This is why, when given the chance to volunteer at Yolo Food Bank with my colleagues from Sacramento Region Community Foundation and members of our board and Impact Collaborative, I jumped at it.
Before we started packing bags with shelf stable food, Yolo Food Bank’s Executive Director, Karen Baker, gave us a tour of the facility and told us about the food bank’s services, like its Community Food Distributions; Cultivo, a program through which they provide groceries directly to agricultural works at their homes and work sites; and its work providing food and personal care items to support other local food assistance programs.
Yolo Food Bank Executive Director Karen Baker leading a tour of the facilities
Responding to Community Need
We learned that about half of the people living in Yolo County don’t earn enough money to afford basic necessities, and one out of three residents benefit from the Yolo Food Bank’s services. Yolo Food Bank distributes about 9.6 million pounds of food to the community every year.
What surprised me the most was hearing that around 40% of the produce grown in California ends up in landfills, not given a chance to be eaten. That’s why Yolo Food Bank has a food recovery program where they receive unsold food from local grocers and food distributors and distribute it to people in need instead, benefiting both the people of Yolo County and the environment by reducing food waste.
Yolo Food Bank Volunteer Manager Yasmin Frausto orients Foundation board, staff and Impact Collaborative members before volunteering begins
The Volunteer Experience
After the tour, it was time to put on our gloves and get to work. We split up into different roles along the assembly line; some of us prepared bags for easy packing, others opened boxes of food and placed them on tables, and the rest of the team took those items and placed them into the prepared bags. Yolo Food Bank’s team set us up well, giving each of us an important role to fill to ensure the quickest and most efficient packaging.
Our team challenged ourselves to beat Yolo Food Bank’s standing volunteer record for packing 250 bags of food. Though we didn’t beat the record, we are proud of the difference we made that day. Getting to experience first-hand the impact of the Foundation’s investment in Yolo Food Bank’s work made the opportunity even more meaningful. Thanks to organizations like Yolo Food Bank that make such an impact in Yolo County, and to donors to our Impact Fund, we are able to serve our community better, and that’s something to be proud of, too.
(Left) Foundation staff Cynthia Gudeman, Monica Haulman and Doni Allen in their volunteer roles; (Right) Foundation staff, board, and Impact Collaborative members in front of the Yolo Food Bank sign