Food Bank News

Second Harvest Reaches Holiday Food and Fund Goals!

Michelle Berg — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:08:17 +0000

Thanks to the generous support of local companies and individuals, Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties has reached its Holiday Food and Fund Drive goals of $11.3 million and 1.6 million pounds of food. The holiday drive is a critical fundraiser for Second Harvest because the Food Bank raises nearly half its annual revenues during the holidays.

Jed York and Mike Klayko teamed up for a winning Holiday Food and Fund Drive season

“We are very grateful for the community and corporate support we received this year,” said Kathy Jackson, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank. “We were fortunate to have Brocade CEO Mike Klayko and 49ers President and CEO Jed York co-chairing the drive this year. Their leadership helped to make this a successful campaign. And of course the 49ers incredible winning streak didn’t hurt. We are very proud of the team.”

While donations to the campaign slowed in November, causing some concern, the last-minute flood of support from the community in December and early January made it possible for Second Harvest to achieve its fundraising goals.

Donations raised during the holidays will be used to feed hungry people in the coming months. Second Harvest is seeing unprecedented need due to the economy. The number of people the Food Bank serves has increased nearly 50 percent since the recession started in 2007. Second Harvest provides food to nearly 250,000 people every month – that’s one in 10 people in the two-county region.

The Holiday Food and Fund Drive is critical because nothing else matters when you’re hungry – you can’t concentrate, you can’t learn, you can’t work, you can’t get through the day. Nutritious food is the cornerstone of a healthy, productive life.

Second Harvest Food Bank thanks every individual, company, school and organization that participated in the Holiday Food and Fund Drive by donating, hosting a drive or volunteering. Thank you for giving what matters.

Most Valuable Coordinator: Nancy Nielsen of Applied Materials

Doanan Phan — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:11:00 +0000

Special Blog Post By: Alisa Tantraphol, Corporate & Foundation Relations Manager

Nancy Nielsen of Applied Materials is our 10th Brocade and 49ers MVC.

Anyone else stepping into the role of Food & Fund Drive Coordinator at Applied Materials would have found it daunting to inherit a drive that raised more than $850,000 for Second Harvest last year. Luckily, Nancy Nielsen is no stranger to corporate philanthropy. In addition to a wealth of experience from places like Harvard, the New York Times, and McKinsey & Co., her impressive resume includes seven years as the Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility at Pfizer.

Last August, Applied Materials hired Nancy to manage community involvement activities for Global Community Affairs. Less than six months into her role at Applied, Nancy has already proven herself as one of the hardest working food & fund drive coordinators toiling on behalf of the nearly quarter of a million clients relying on Second Harvest for food every month.

The holidays were a triple header for Nancy.

First up was the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot sponsored by Applied Materials. Nancy was up before dawn on Thanksgiving morning organizing more than 500 Applied employee participants. More than 20,000 people participated in the 5K and 10K Run/Walks that generated approximately $200,000 for Second Harvest Food Bank and additional funds for other benefitting agencies.

On December 3^rd, 270 Applied Materials employees and their families spent a Saturday morning packing 5,200 boxes full of food that had been purchased by the company to be donated to Second Harvest. Nancy’s project management skills honored the long tradition of families helping local families—this was the 16^th annual Helping Hands Day—while ensuring that everything ran like clockwork.

Nancy Nielsen at the Applied Materials Food & Fund Drive kick-off.

In addition to these two massive undertakings, Nancy coordinated the most successful global hunger relief campaign at Applied Materials to date. Leading a team of employee volunteers, Nancy encouraged the organization of events large and small—a talent show, ping pong tournament, and a field day-type competition where executives were scored on speed and accuracy in football, baseball, soccer, and basketball (in which monetary donations to Second Harvest would, of course, knock time off their score), just to name a few.

As Mark Walker, Managing Director of Global Community Affairs says, “Nancy’s passion for helping others improve their lives was exemplified in her leadership of Applied’s annual North America Food Drive. She thrived on the challenge of identifying volunteer leaders, arming them with key messages and providing real time data to help them be successful in raising money for local food banks, especially Second Harvest in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. I marveled at her genuine excitement along the journey of each success. She created a wonderful enthusiasm for the entire company.”

The Applied Materials Foundation has several innovative programs that amplify employees’ generosity:

The foundation matches every Food Drive employee donation dollar for dollar
The foundation makes a monetary donation to recognize every pound of food that is donated
An online “Give Five, Take Five” hunger quiz educates employees on the global hunger problem and allows them to direct Foundation dollars to their local food bank

To demonstrate how committed Applied Materials is to global hunger relief, there is even an Executive Sponsor for the holiday food & fund drive. This year, Dr. Randhir Thakur, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Silicon Systems Group, carved time out of his globe-trotting schedule to ensure an executive presence at Helping Hands Day and other key fundraising events.

Kathy Jackson (SHFB CEO), Dr. Randhir Thakur (AMAT Executive Sponsor) and Nancy Nielsen (AMAT Food & Fund Drive Coordinator) at the 16th Annual Helping Hands Day, which provided 264,567 meals to our neighbors in need.

We are the first to acknowledge that serving as a Food & Fund Drive Coordinator isn’t always glamorous. As Nancy can attest, when you’re running one of the largest food and fund drives in the country, even counting cash and checks can be a Herculean task. But the labor of love ALWAYS makes a difference.

The final result of the corporate support, employee generosity, department competition, and executive leadership? A global holiday food & fund drive that raised nearly $1.2 million, almost $900,000 of which will help Second Harvest Food Bank feed local families right here in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

Second Harvest Welcomes New Health Ambassadors

Michelle Berg — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:16:29 +0000

Our new class of Health Ambassadors will multiply the impact of our existing nutrition outreach efforts

Second Harvest Food Bank does much more than distribute canned corn and day-old bread. In addition to making sure we are providing healthy food to local families in need, we also strive to educate individuals and organizations about making their meals both nutritious and safe. Last Friday, after our staff nutritionists (Madoka is in the fun hat) provided extensive nutrition education and food safety training, we inducted our second class of Health Ambassadors.

This program was created and piloted in 2011 by Public Health Intern, Prima Hernandez (third from right in the photo) as a way to augment Second Harvest’s existing nutrition outreach efforts. Our Health Ambassadors will:

Transform lives by teaching people to make healthy food choices and cook tasty meals.
Help people lower their risk for diabetes, obesity, heart disease and other health problems.
Inspire members of our community to lead healthy lives.

Health Ambassadors will provide nutrition and food safety classes, cooking demonstrations of food bank relevant recipes, and other resources at sites throughout our community. These four Ambassadors speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Mandarin. After completing the final phase of their field training, they will be able to go to distribution sites without the nutritionists to provide education in an appropriate language, thus expanding our nutrition outreach.

Congratulations and thanks to them!

Food of the Month: Peanut Butter for January

Doanan Phan — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:44:55 +0000

Our savvy supporters often ask which foods are the best to donate. To shed some light on the subject, we are reintroducing our Food of the Month series. Most of the foods are shelf stable, pack plenty of nutrition and are easy to prepare. For more information on our most-needed food items, check out our website. Let’s kick off the year with peanut butter!

Did you know today is National Peanut Butter Day? Every year, the U.S. celebrates peanut butter on January 24^th!

Why should we celebrate this nutty concoction once a year?

The nutritious value of peanut butter is hard to overlook. According to the National Peanut Board (NPB), the average American consumes more than six pounds of peanuts and peanut butter products every year! There are more than 30 essential vitamins and minerals that come with peanut and peanut butter consumption. Peanuts alone contain vitamin E, fiber, magnesium and folate. There is plenty of niacin (Vitamin B) too, which helps us convert our consumed food to energy. And while the Vitamin E from peanuts provides antioxidants, its dietary fiber content helps your body to digest foods and absorb nutrients. To top it off, peanuts exceed other nuts by having the most protein, niacin, folate and phytoserols. The nutritional value of one serving size peanut butter can be surprising for many.

Apart from the health benefits of peanut butter, the spread pairs well with a variety of foods. Items such as breads, jellies, apples, bananas, smoothies, marinades, baked goods and salad dressing can be heightened with the addition of peanut butter. To read more about peanuts and recipes with peanut butter, check out the NPB’s recipe website.

You can help get peanut butter into the hands of families in need by hosting a drive or mini collection where you live, work or play. Register for a drive today or drop some off at our San Jose or San Carlos warehouse. We encourage you to go nuts!

Most Valuable Coordinator: Tate Tran of Marvell

Doanan Phan — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:24:35 +0000

Special Blog Post By: Alisa Tantraphol, Corporate & Foundation Relations Manager

How does a company create a culture of giving? Through vision and a lot of spadework.

Marvell's Tate Tran is our 9th Brocade and 49ers MVC

At Marvell Semiconductor, the vision came from Tom Hayes, Vice President of Corporate Marketing. As an executive at Applied Materials, Tom saw the power of bringing people together for the right cause – Applied Materials raises over $1 million every year to support global hunger relief efforts.

Under Tom’s leadership, Marvell became a platinum-level sponsor of both Second Harvest Food Bank’s Holiday Food & Fund Drive and our summer Share Your Lunch campaign.

Convincing employees to rally behind the Second Harvest cause was a harder nut to crack. Marvell’s employees hail from all four corners of the globe, and while Second Harvest serves people living near Marvell’s headquarters in Santa Clara, Santa Clara isn’t necessarily the first place every employee thinks of when they think “home.”

Another challenge was that, although the scale of the local hunger problem is huge – for the 25% of the local population earning less than half of what it takes to make ends meet in the high-cost-of-living Bay Area, their next meal is never guaranteed – the problem is as hidden as it is far-reaching. It’s a problem, by and large, hidden behind closed doors…the doors of parents skipping meals so that their kids don’t have to go to be hungry.

Marvell’s first drive in 2008 raised $100 and 680 pounds of food; not stellar considering there are thousands of local employees.

Marvell's Red Envelope tree

Last year, Tate Tran, manager of corporate communications, took over the reins of coordinating the Holiday Food & Fund Drive at Marvell. Tate was determined to build on previous efforts to make Marvell’s drive as competitive on the community front as they are on the technology front.

It wasn’t easy, but Tate worked the internal communications channels to educate her colleagues. She brought in an element of competition, tasking each business unit with coming up with a raffle prize and then pitting them against each other to garner the most raffle tickets. And she began to identify champions within Marvell. Champions like Sal Torres, corporate counsel for Marvell, who took up a collection among his employees to purchase a PS3 to be raffled off as part of an event that raised over $5,000 in one day. Champions like Eric Barnachea, who manages the campus cafeteria, who volunteered his time and his chef’s to cook a gourmet meal at the home of the lucky winner of a raffle that generated thousands of dollars from selling $1 raffle tickets.

This holiday, now a veteran with two previous drives under her belt, Tate began to see the fruits of her labor. At this year’s Food & Fund Drive Competition, the energy was palpable. The competitive spirit was delivering amazing results. The HR team incorporated the culture of many of their colleagues by putting together a Red Envelope tree, with each raffle ticket earning an employee the right to choose a red envelope that might be filled with an instant win ticket or the winning Grand Prize ticket. Prizes such as wine, jewelry, and a weekend stay in San Francisco were donated by employees and their friends.

Competition among Marvell employees pays off for local families struggling to put food on the table. Tate Tran (pictured above in the gray sweater) is credited with tugging at her colleague’s hearts “while opening up their wallets” for the community.

The Misfits, a cross-functional team led by Eric, put together an $1,500 Las Vegas getaway package complete with a two-night stay in the Cosmopolitan, limo service to and from the airport, and gift certificates to STK, Milo’s, and a day spa. It speaks to the changing culture at Marvell that the winner of the Las Vegas trip, Jim Rivas, donated to the value of the trip back to Second Harvest to allow us to feed a mother and her child for an entire year.

As one employee told me at the competition, “It’s almost as if employees were waiting for a cause to support.” They certainly seem to have found their cause – Marvell’s 2011 Holiday Food & Fund Drive brought in $94,000, allowing us to provide 188,000 additional meals to our neighbors in need thanks to employee contributions that were matched dollar for dollar by Marvell.

When talking about the success of the Marvell drive, everyone points to Tate.

“To a large measure, I attribute the continuing growth of Marvell’s food drive programs to Tate Tran’s energy, enthusiasm and commitment,” said Tom Hayes, Marvell’s vice president of Corporate Marketing. “Marvell employees are by nature caring, generous people but also very busy–Tate’s creativity breaks through the noise and tugs at their hearts while opening up their wallets.”

It may not be easy to create a culture of giving, but companies don’t succeed because business is easy, either. They succeed because they’re driven and results-oriented. The same drive and determination that makes Tate so successful in her day job ensures huge results for the community.

Most Valuable Coordinators: Dave Macchi and Darleen Keegan of eBay

Michelle Berg — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:18:19 +0000

Special Blog Post By: Alisa Tantraphol, Corporate & Foundation Relations Manager

We are proud to announce eBay’s Dave Macchi and Darleen Keegan as our 8^th Brocade and 49ers Most Valuable Coordinators.

“I’ve taken up a paper route,” jokes Dave Macchi, fitness manager at eBay. Dave was so committed to ensuring an eBay “Fill the Truck” food collection event was a success that he spent 15 hours of his own time – during Thanksgiving weekend, no less – personally distributing fliers for the event at all 5,000 workstations on the eBay campus.

Dave Macchi, along with Fitness Center manager Darleen Keegan, coordinated a Holiday Food & Fund Drive to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank. Their goal was to raise almost three times as much food as last year, to collect 15,000 pounds of food before the end of their drive.

Dave and Dar hosted a five-week “Turkey Challenge.” It was a walking challenge to encourage employees to spend less of their day sitting – for personal rewards as well as community benefit. A 25-pound food donation to Second Harvest was the registration fee. It’s a small price to pay for a FitBit pedometer and five weeks’ worth of exercise and health tips from the top-notch Club One team that runs the Fitness Center at eBay. The registration fee also put employees in the running for prizes such as free personal training sessions, massages, and iPods.

Hugh Williams (right), Vice President at eBay, says, “Dave and Darleen make me proud to be an eBay employee. Making a difference in the community is what we're all about, and their contribution as coordinators has been amazing in helping feed so many families in need this year."

With 650 participants, the registration fee alone was enough to catapult eBay past their goal of 15,000 pounds, but for Dave and Darleen, that was just the beginning. To incentivize people to continue giving, they enlisted seven Vice Presidents from the technology division, each of whom personally put up a prize to encourage their employees to donate the most food.

Although employees agree that it’s for a good cause, a lot of them contribute because of Dave and Darleen – their enthusiasm is contagious.

Just ask eBay CEO John Donahoe, who tells us, “Dave and Darleen have inspired so many of us at eBay to get involved with Second Harvest Food Bank. They have taken remarkable initiative and their passion has been infectious. What a wonderful way to have an impact!”

Darleen is passionate about helping people get through tough times.

When people question why the Fitness Center is running a food drive, Darleen has been open about what makes it so personal for her: “When my husband walked out on my kids and me, we needed help from the food bank. You never know who you’ll be helping.”

Darleen has turned the memory of a difficult period into the fire that drives one of the most successful Holiday Food & Fund Drives in Silicon Valley. She and Dave are proof that a combination of passion, creativity, competition and incentives can inspire others to make a difference in the lives of tens of thousands of neighbors.

Guest Blog Post by Randy Pond, Cisco Executive Vice President

Michelle Berg — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 23:40:55 +0000

Randy Pond, Cisco Executive Vice President and Second Harvest champion, had the chance to meet with one of the families Second Harvest Food Bank feeds. Read on to hear his reactions and to learn about why Cisco is committed to ending hunger both locally and around the world. Content re-posted with permission from Cisco.

Recently, I visited Arletta Jorgenson, an American single mother of three who relies on food pantries to help feed her family (see video below). Arletta, who lost her job as an administrative assistant three years ago and has survived on public assistance ever since, reminds us that financial hardship can happen to anyone – our neighbors, our cousins, colleagues…and us.

In the U.S., 49 million people are “food insecure” (families with at least one member who sometimes is hungry because they can’t afford enough food), according to Feeding America. These people aren’t necessarily homeless – or even unemployed. In fact, more than a third of them have at least one working adult.

Worldwide, there are 925 million undernourished people, according to the World Food Programme. So, one in seven people don’t get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. Economists estimate that children whose development is stunted by hunger and malnutrition could lose 5-10 percent in lifetime earnings. And that affects families, villages and economies.

Cisco aims to help, through its annual Global Hunger Relief Campaign, for which we expect to raise more than $1 million in employee donations. With matching funds, we hope to increase that total to over $3 million, enough to provide 8 million meals. Please do your part, whether as a Cisco employee supporting the campaign, or a socially conscious citizen who gives money, food, or time to your local food agency.

For more information on Cisco’s community initiatives, check out Cisco’s Corporate Social Responsibility website.

What are you doing to give back? Comment below and let us know. Happy Holidays.

-Randy Pond

Most Valuable Coordinator: Anthony Bernal

Michelle Berg — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:32:37 +0000

Anthony Bernal is our 7th Brocade and 49ers MVC.

We are proud to announce Anthony Bernal, creator of the Lights on Peach Avenue Christmas light display, as our 7^th Brocade and 49ers Most Valuable Coordinator.

Dancing Christmas lights and food drives have become a legendary combination in Sunnyvale. When Anthony learned that long-time community champion, Dave Severns, passed away this October he knew that the show needed to carry on for both the families who enjoy the lights and those who Second Harvest Food Bank serves.

Although this is the 6^th year that Anthony and wife Kelly have had a Christmas light display, this is their first year with a food drive. They plan to continue adding to the display every year. With 18,000 lights and just one house it is a smaller production than the Severns-Pease Christmas Display, but the energy behind it is the same. Anthony wants to make next year’s show bigger and brighter.

“I want the neighbors and the community to enjoy the show, but remember that the food drive is really what’s important,” Anthony explains. “I enjoy just standing across the street and watching. I love seeing families together and the little ones dropping a can of food in the bin.”

After being featured in the Sunnyvale Sun, the display has seen increased traffic. Anthony shared, “a bus from a local senior citizen facility came by. I guess we are on the tour now. That makes me happy.”

The barrels are filling up on Peach Avenue!

You can support this effort by donating food when you watch the show (at 716 Peach Avenue, Sunnyvale until December 31^st) or by giving online. Anthony suggests viewing the display from across the street with a small radio tuned to FM 104.1. Some of Anthony’s favorite songs that the lights play to are “Carol of the Bells”, “Music Box Dancer” and “Greensleeves.” When you visit, you can pick your own favorite!

Although Anthony never met Dave Severns, he watched Dave’s show every year and has now been inspired to follow in his tradition. We hope that you will also be inspired to do what you can to help feed our neighbors in need, this season and throughout the year.

Thank you Anthony!

Most Valuable Coordinator: Jake Perez

Doanan Phan — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:27:51 +0000

Jake Perez is our 6th Brocade and 49ers MVC.

We are proud to announce Jake Perez, President of the Woodrow Wilson Jr. High School Reunion 2011 Committee as our 6^th Brocade and 49ers Most Valuable Coordinator.

Even though the school closed its doors in June 1971, many alumni still keep in touch with one another. This year, in honor of the 40^th anniversary of the school’s closing, the group wanted to hold a special reunion at the site of the former junior high school, located at 701 Vine Street in San Jose. The site now belongs to the Center for Employment Training (CET).

Jake and fellow committee members held their reunion in September and had a terrific turnout; more than 500 alumni and 10 former teachers. Attendees included a graduate of the class of 1933 and a now 96-year-old former teacher. To help cover the costs of the event, the reunion committee sold t-shirts and other items. After all event expenses were reimbursed, the group realized there was a profit and had to determine what they should do with the money.

As Jake explains, “Since many of the committee members had made donations in the past to Second Harvest Food Bank, either through their employer or as individuals, they were already aware of the help that they provide to the community and families in need. Every member of the committee agreed that making a $2,000.00 donation to Second Harvest during the holiday season was a charity that we knew would have the greatest impact on so many families. Thank you for all the good your organization provides!”

Thank you to Jake and your fellow committee members for supporting our work at Second Harvest Food Bank. Because of your committee’s kind gesture, we are able to feed more families this holiday season and all through the year!

Jake Perez(center) and fellow committee members present their check to staff member Deborah McGaw at Second Harvest Food Bank.

Most Valuable Coordinator: Ramesh Kamath of SonicWALL

Doanan Phan — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:50:50 +0000

Special Blog Post By: Alisa Tantraphol, Corporate & Foundation Relations Manager

Ramesh Kamath of SonicWALL is our 5th Brocade and 49ers MVC.

This holiday season, Second Harvest Food Bank is recognizing notable food drive coordinators on our blog and Facebook page. Every week in November and December we will recognize one food drive coordinator/group as the Brocade and 49ers Most Valuable Coordinator (MVC). This is an elite award, as there are over 1,600 coordinators.

1 policy change + 1 dynamic coordinator = 1 huge drive

SonicWall shows how a small company uses a vacation donation program to raise money like a Fortune 500 Company.

Last year, SonicWALL was the only company with fewer than 250 employees to raise more than $50,000 for Second Harvest Food Bank. Credit their food & fund drive coordinator, Ramesh Kamath, who is a Director of Software Engineering. He has grown their drive from one that raised $3,200 in 2005 to one that raised over $100,000 in 2009.

What is Ramesh’s secret to success? Taking advantage of an HR policy change. When the recession hit, the company needed to reduce the accrual limit on vacation time. Whereas employees used to be able to accumulate six weeks of vacation time, they can now only accumulate three. After hitting the cap, employees stop earning additional time off until they use up time they have already accrued.

In order to help take the liability off their books, SonicWALL allowed employees to donate the value of their vacation time to charity. Ramesh immediately saw the potential—instead of asking people to write a check to Second Harvest, he could ask them to donate vacation time; employees would then receive a tax deduction on the value of vacation time they wouldn’t be able to use anyway.

It’s been a runaway success ever since.

In 2005, the average donation at SonicWALL was less than $200. Last year, it was over $700 – and employee participation in the food drive has skyrocketed. As Ramesh notes, “People here work with a passion to succeed. They find it very difficult to take vacation time. So if they’re not taking vacation and they’re not accruing any more time off, they might as well donate it instead.”

After so many years of running a food & fund drive for Second Harvest, Ramesh knows that everyone procrastinates. The key to success, he tell us, is persistence: “If it’s a cause I believe in, I have no problem going back to someone five times if necessary to remind them to make a donation. And from the bottom of my heart, I believe in the Second Harvest cause.”

Although donated vacation time now makes up the lion’s share of the SonicWALL drive, it’s tradition – for 15 years, Ramesh Kamath, Jim Knowles, and Kevin Lussier have launched their Holiday Food & Fund Drive by filling up the first food donation barrel.

Ramesh’s colleagues appreciate his passion and persistence. As any employee at SonicWALL will tell you, Ramesh is the food & fund drive at SonicWALL.

“We are proud of our long-standing partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties to provide much-needed food to the most needy in our community, especially during the holiday season. As with all things in life, it always comes down to the individuals that go the extra mile and help make programs like this a reality,” said Matthew Medeiros, president and CEO at SonicWALL. “We congratulate Ramesh and all our contributors of the annual food drive to their outstanding results of this important community outreach.”

For more information on how your company can develop a vacation donation policy to support the fight against local hunger, check out this FAQ or contact Alisa Tantraphol at atantraphol@shfb.org or 408.694.0041.