New Pantry Operations Director Alex Aguirre

Alex Aguirre is now our Operations Manager at the Pantry! Alex is a long-time employee at the Pantry and knows all the ins and outs of how it works.

Molly Crowther and Chris Esqueda
New Assistant Pantry Managers

We are also pleased to announce that Molly Crowther and Chris Esqueda, both Pantry volunteers, have been hired as Pantry Assistant Managers. Together, they will work on pantry food distribution days and help Alex operate the Pantry. Molly will also work on volunteer coordination, and Chris will also work on implementing the new Client Voice client database.

​Jonas Osmond Hired to Work on Grants, Fundraising, and the Newsletter

Another long-time volunteer, Jonas Osmond, who also served as Acting Pantry Director in Fall 2023, has been asked to step in to work on our grants operation, fundraising, and the Pantry newsletter.

Our Incredible Volunteers!

The Berkeley Food Pantry began when Dorothy Noble, a member of Berkeley Friends Church, felt called to help food-insecure Berkeley families. She built a network of volunteers to help her run a food pantry from her home.

On October 6, 1969, the Berkeley Food Pantry began operating on the ground floor of the Friends Church with 13 regular volunteers managing the entire operation. Today, the Berkeley Food Pantry is run by over 100 volunteers and three staff members. The pantry is heavily dependent on volunteers and always needs volunteers.

We also want to announce our new Volunteer Advisory Committee (Summer 2024), and thank each of them for serving: Marice A., Molly C., Rocio H., Aiden M., Debbie P., and Dianne S.. They met with the staff and Oversight Committee for the first time in August 2024 and will continue to meet together to help improve the Pantry and its operations.

Go to our Get Involved page to learn how you can become a part of our team.