Second Harvest Food Bank

Working towards a hunger-free community.

Second Harvest Food Bank’s MISSION is to ensure that every person who needs a meal can get one.

Why is it important?

The immense wealth in tech-centric Silicon Valley has created a higher cost of living than many people can afford. This has left many of its community members hungry–including one in three children in the area facing food insecurity. Working to  combat this epidemic is crucial, as malnutrition inhibits the prosperity of our total body wellness. Hunger can lead to implications with one’s physical growth processes, immune systems, as well as cognitive abilities (such as lower IQ scores, stunted social skills, memory deficiencies, learning disabilities, and more), just to name a few of its detrimental effects. We cannot be our best when we are hungry––which is why Second Harvest Food Bank works hard to make the community hunger-free.

How do they do it?

One in 10 people in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties receive food from this Kind Charity. This process entails feeding one quarter of a million people every month through the distribution of nutritious foods from more than 850 sites. Such Kindness is made possible thanks to tireless volunteers working throughout its 330 partner organizations (such as soup kitchens, programs for children, senior meal sites, and more) dedicated to keeping the community happy and healthy.

How you can #TravelKindly:

• Choose the Second Harvest Food Bank as your local charity when you travel with Kind Traveler.
• Sort food and produce with other volunteers at either the North San Jose or San Carlos location.
• Help issue food to neighbors in need at Second Harvest’s distribution centers.
• Drop off food donations, based on Second Harvest’s list of most-needed items.
• 40% of food produced for people in the U.S. ends up going to waste. Work to combat this statistic and don’t purchse more than you need (unless you plan to donate it to the Food Bank, of course!).