Berkeley Food Pantry Newsletter
January 2025
2024 Year in Review
The Berkeley Food Pantry wants to take a moment to thank every person and organization who helped us provide Berkeley and Albany community members with nutritious food, toiletries, children’s books, and connections to other resources in 2024.
Last year, Berkeley Food Pantry’s membership in the Alameda County Community Food Bank allowed the pantry to obtain and distribute approximately 715,000 pounds of food. Additionally, Berkeley Food Pantry volunteers rescued approximately 460,000 pounds of surplus food from stores like Target, Whole Foods, Berkeley Natural Grocery, and Trader Joe’s for redistribution to Berkeley and Albany households.
Combined, that’s over a million pounds of food handed out in 2024!
We provided food to 1,400 households and home deliveries each month. These households contained 3,750 people. Additionally, we were able to provide items and resources beyond food. Upon request, we provided baby formula, baby food, diapers, pet food, and hygiene kits.
The client and food distribution totals for 2024 are nearly 30% higher than 2022!
To handle the additional clients during the 2 hour window we are open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the pantry introduced a new client check in system provided by the Alameda County Community Food Bank.
Berkeley Food Pantry also provided books to many of the households with children. Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers and the generosity of Books, Inc., East Bay Children’s Book Project, Friends of Berkeley Library, Friends of Albany Library, and private donors, we were provided with books suitable for pre-K through high school. Books are available on the blue book cart every day the pantry is open for in-person clients. They are also available for our home delivery clients when requested.
We also brought in organizations to the pantry to talk to households about eviction prevention, nutrition, Cal-Fresh and Medi-Cal enrollment, and affordable phone and Wi-Fi -access. Every Friday, our partner Eviction Defense Center regularly sent an attorney to the pantry to speak to households about their housing rights.
Our daily client counts are at historic levels. Please consider making a donation to help with our increased costs to handle these extra people in need. You can donate securely online by clicking here or by mailing a check payable to the Berkeley Food Pantry, 1600 Sacramento Street, Berkeley, CA 94702. All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Pantry leadership wishes to thank our fantastic volunteers who make it all happen!
- Alex, Chris, and Molly
News from the Volunteer Advisory Committee
The Volunteer Advisory Committee was busy during the fourth quarter of 2024! On November 14, we hosted a two-hour training on de-escalation skills and strategies. About a dozen volunteers and staff attended the training facilitated by Allyson Nakayama of the City of Berkeley’s Mental Health Division. If you missed the training and are interested in the materials covered, the link to Allyson’s presentation is here.
We will work with staff to host a food safety training in the Spring – participants will be SERV safe certified after completing the training and passing a test – so stay tuned for that.
On November 16, we hosted the Volunteer Appreciation Potluck (see separate article). A big shout-out to Committee members for their hard work on making the Potluck an outstanding success. In addition to the raffle, volunteers enjoyed the new Pantry swag – t-shirts, hats and aprons – that was provided as a thank-you and acknowledgement of the volunteers’ hard work every week of the year! Plus, it’s great to rep the Pantry around town. If you missed the Potluck and want a t-shirt, hat or apron, please see Alex.
Thank you to the volunteers who completed the volunteer survey! Over sixty of you did so. The overwhelming majority of volunteers are satisfied or completely satisfied with your volunteer experience. Most of you volunteer with the Pantry because its mission aligns with your values and you enjoy the “grassroots” vibe.
Many of you requested additional training and felt that a more formal onboarding process would be beneficial. The Committee is working with staff to address the onboarding process and Dianne Strong, VAC member, has been writing up job descriptions for the volunteer tasks.
Several of you said you were available to take on additional volunteer efforts of limited duration such as special projects. See the article below about a new fundraising committee being formed by VAC member Marice Ashe.
We wrapped up the year by working with staff to put out an end-of-year donor appeal letter. We hope to continue to serve the volunteers and make your volunteer experience as rewarding as possible as we head into 2025. Any ideas, suggestions, or feedback on how to improve the BFP volunteer experience are always welcome. Email debbiepotter@comcast.net.
Join the BFP Fundraising Committee
A BFP fundraising committee is forming in 2025 to better support Pantry activities and staff. There are so many unmet needs ranging from Pantry operations and supplies, to health and other benefits for staff, to building a rainy day fund for the future. The stronger we are financially, the more we can serve the individuals and families who rely on BFP services.
If you would like to be part of this new effort, please contact Marice Ashe at mariceashe@gmail.com. Thank you!
Spotlight on the Home Delivery Crew
There are many moving parts in the pantry machinery that gets food to our clients. Most volunteers specialize in one activity and may not be aware of the many other tasks that need to be done to get food to our clients.
Here are just some of the cogs in the pantry machinery:
Food recovery at stores
Sorting produce
Filling produce, bread, dry goods, and refrigerated bags
Home delivery
Client food distribution
In this issue, we’ll focus on the home delivery crew. Each week, the pantry delivers food to about 25-30 households. Some people in these households have mobility issues and can’t get to the pantry for their food. Others don’t have a car or live near a bus line to get to the pantry.
Before we deliver food to these households, a volunteer calls them a few days before their scheduled delivery date with a reminder. Sometimes the client will update their food preferences. For example, a household might be vegetarian, can only eat soft prepared foods, or does not eat beef.
Each driver (there are about eight altogether) delivers to as many as 5 households per shift.
Driver Sally Smith has been delivering food to clients for about two years. Sally enjoys helping people. It gives her perspective and an appreciation for what she has in life. According to Sally, clients are very grateful for the home delivery service.
Delivering food in a dense urban setting has its challenges. Parking is often difficult and finding an exact apartment location can be tricky. Sally uses a wheeled cart to help lug the sometimes heavy bags and minimize the back-and-forth to her car.
Ednah Friedman has been providing this essential service for 4 ½ years. She is one of the original drivers. Like Sally, she gets satisfaction from helping people. Besides driving, she is also on the 4-person team that calls clients with reminders.
According to Ednah, the lack of elevators in some of Berkeley’s older, multi-storied buildings is another challenge for the delivery team.
The Home Delivery crew, like all the other crews at the Pantry, provides a vital service getting food to people in need. The next Newsletter will highlight another crew.
Fall Potluck
About 35 volunteers gathered on a cool Saturday evening in November at Marice Ashe’s house (thanks for hosting, Marice!) for a potluck.
The highlight of the evening was a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses such as Barney’s Hamburgers, Books, Inc., 5 Little Monkeys, Juanita and Maude’s, Café M, and Three.OneFour Pizzeria.
The food was terrific and a good time was had by all. Many thanks to the Volunteer Advisory Committee for organizing the event.
Food for Thought
The publishers of the newsletter (Debbie and George) were intrigued to learn that the Pantry has its very own book club. We reached out to volunteer Sarah Goodwin, book club organizer, and asked her to write an article about the book club and how volunteers (and other interested folks) can get involved.
A few years ago, thanks to a playful suggestion from the one and only Renata Ciurlionyte—legendary former Pantry volunteer and forever friend—several Monday morning Pantry volunteers decided to form a book club. What started as a small, fun idea has blossomed into a wonderful community and last year, we expanded to include Pantry volunteers from every shift! We’re thrilled to see our group grow, and we’re always excited to welcome new book lovers to join in the fun!
Our mission is simple: we aim to read six books a year. We meet once a month, typically on a Monday around 12:30, and we’ve been known to gather at Cedar Rose Park or at someone’s cozy home. Our meetings usually start with a set of thought-provoking questions provided by the publisher, but before long, the conversation takes on a life of its own—often going in delightful, unexpected directions!
Some of the fantastic books we’ve enjoyed over the years include:
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
About Grace by Anthony Doerr
The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer
Educated by Tara Westover
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
The Library Book by Susan Orleans
Currently, we’re diving into Inland by Tea Obrecht, with our next discussion scheduled for January 27th. If you’re intrigued and would love to join our bookish adventure, just shoot an email to Sarah Goodwin at goodwinsarah94@gmail.com for all the details. We can’t wait to add your voice to the conversation!
By the Numbers
We continue to see record numbers of households that need assistance putting food on the table.
Here are our numbers for the past 4 months:
September: 137 households per day / 309 total people in households
October: 127 households per day / 304 total people in households
November: 126 households per day / 288 total people in households
December: 141 households per day / 329 total people in households
BERKELEY FOOD PANTRY
1600 Sacramento Street
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 525-2280
Newsletter produced by George Baranowski, Molly Crowther, and Debbie Potter
January 2025