Join California in Fighting Hunger
By: California Volunteers, Office Of The Governor
Tags: Hunger, Volunteering, Civic Engagement, Covid 19, California

#CaliforniansForAll VISTA member loads a client’s car during San Francisco — Marin Food Bank’s contactless drive-through food distribution.

Like the rest of the country, California is experiencing a hunger crisis we haven’t seen in generations. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused food banks across the state to experience a massive decrease in their volunteer workforce while the demand for assistance has continued to skyrocket. Nearly one in four Californians do not have enough food to eat, and the demand for food assistance has more than doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, it was apparent both immediate and long-term solutions were needed to help stabilize food bank operations and keep Californians fed. California took early action: Governor Gavin Newsom deployed the California National Guard to food banks across the state, and service programs like AmeriCorps and Civilian Conservation Corps redirected members to distribute meals in their communities.

As part of Governor Newsom’s #CaliforniansForAll Service Initiative to build a statewide volunteer infrastructure, we began to recruit Californians from every region and every walk of life to safely volunteer to ensure their neighbors would not go hungry.

It wasn’t difficult to find passionate Californians willing to step up to help others in a time of tremendous need. More than 48,000 Californians have signed up to volunteer in their communities, and I was fortunate to recently be able to travel across the state to meet and thank some of them personally. What I found was a common thread among the volunteers. They are people who overcame the fear created by the unknown of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic to help in any way they could.

On the food distribution line at food banks across the state, you can find a tech executive filling boxes of food with someone who recently became unemployed. You can find a high school student directing vehicles to line up to receive food boxes. You can find a retired teacher handing out resource flyers to those in need of assistance. These are the Californians who heard the governor’s call and took action.

The most inspiring part of my job has been visiting more than a dozen food banks in recent months and meeting people like Megan McClintock, and hearing about the impact she and other volunteers are having on those facing hunger and how service and volunteering has had a positive influence on their lives.

I met Megan when I visited Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB) in Oakland in late October. After losing her theatre job at the start of the pandemic, she watched the governor’s daily press briefings on COVID-19. She answered his call for volunteers by joining the first crew to go to the food bank through #CaliforniansForAll. Megan was a dedicated volunteer, and today, she taps into the logistical skills she used putting on plays for 15 years to manage food distribution events as an employee of ACCFB.

Megan’s story is an inspiring one — a story that exemplifies passion matched with action to benefit an individual and her community. The impact of service is real and seeps into every level of our lives.

We need passion matched with action on a scale never seen before to get us through this crisis. To address volunteer needs and develop a long-term sustainable strategy to combat food insecurity, there are now 50 AmeriCorps VISTA service members stationed at more than 27 critical food banks and volunteer centers across California. The State ensured 3.7 million school-aged children received separate food benefits to replace meals they otherwise would have received at school, reaching nearly 95% of those eligible for the program.

Throughout our response to the pandemic it’s been obvious we must rely on one another to face challenges, fostering relationships to safeguard the well being of our communities. A public/private partnership between the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the California Association of Food Banks increased distribution to deliver 134 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables and 35 million pounds of non-produce items to food banks.

More than 330 jobs were filled at food banks thanks to the coordination of the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency with 27 local workforce development boards. Older adults were kept fed with the Great Plates Delivered program — 20 million meals were served to those in need.

We’re learning what we are truly capable of when we come together to unite in service to one another. Yet for all these success stories, more needs to be done. California must continue growing its statewide volunteer ecosystem to address the problems exacerbated by the pandemic. And we need everyone’s help.

The state took early action to keep Californians fed. Now, we’re calling on everyone to join us in these efforts by signing up today to donate or volunteer at your local food bank at CaliforniansForAll.ca.gov.

Led by California Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday, California Volunteers, Office of the Governor empowers Californians to take action to improve their communities. #CaliforniansForAll is a California Volunteers service initiative launched in response to COVID-19 to establish a volunteer corps to support the state’s response to emergencies and disasters.