The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Summer food drive to help feed the hungry
By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL
Even through the economic downturn that brought the once fiscally sound Silicon Valley into the depths of deficit, one Sunnyvale organization's business never stopped growing.
According to Nancy Tivol, executive director of Sunnyvale Community Services, "We always say our business is booming, but that isn't good." Tivol's business is to help clothe, feed and support low-income families in Sunnyvale, and with the South Bay still struggling, there isn't enough surplus to go around.
By summer, the warehouse full of food collected and distributed in the cold winter months--the "Season of Giving"--is depleted and children who once relied on subsidized lunches to get their daily meals are hungry at home.
"We're hoping to get lots of kid-friendly snacks and things that can be prepared easily for children," said Sunnyvale CARES coordinator and Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church member Pat Plant.
To help bridge the summer vacation gap and to support the organizations that help families, Sunnyvale CARES is holding its second annual summer food drive.
CARES, now in its second year, is a consortium of local churches, residents and other groups that unite to combat hunger in Sunnyvale. Last year, the drive brought in more than 10,000 pounds of food. It benefits Community Services, the Salvation Army, Our Daily Bread, Sunnyvale FISH and New Beginnings Church.
Sunnyvale Community Services and the Salvation Army get the lion's share of the collected food because the two have the facilities to store items. Community Services has a large warehouse attached to the back of its Kifer Road offices, which it tries to keep stocked year-round.
Plant said, this year it's hoped last year's totals will be topped, both in terms of food turned in and the $5,000 donated. With enough money, items can be purchased in bulk, which gets the most out of every donated dollar.
The food drive is an extension of the regular monthly food drive at the Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church. Plant said giving has become a reflex.
"People just get into the habit of giving at the end of the month; whenever they go shopping for food they pick something up, or their 'buy-one-get-one-frees' come to us," she said.
In three years, the church has collected 30 tons of food, averaging more than 1,000 pounds a month.
Bags of food can be delivered to Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church, 728 W. Fremont Ave., on July 15 from 9 a.m. to noon. Monetary donations will also be accepted, and checks should be made out to Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church with "Sunnyvale Cares Fund Account" in the memo section. For more information, contact Pat Plant at 408.737.7370 or patplant@comcast.net.
