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During Menlo Park’s monthly food distribution program held the second Tuesday of each month, twice as many families as usual – about 300 – came to the Onetta Harris Community Center to pick up food in April.
Usually, that number is about 150, according to Derek Schweigart, community services director with the city of Menlo Park.
Across the Peninsula, the need for food support has skyrocketed as unemployment balloons and economic insecurity deepens. Here’s how food support is being rolled out at the federal, state, regional, county and local levels.
In California, the state runs the federally funded CalFresh program, which has seen demand skyrocket in recent months.
There are about 12,000 residents in San Mateo County and 50,000 in Santa Clara County who received funds to purchase food through CalFresh in March, according to the California Department of Social Services.
Between the last week of February and the last week of April, the number of CalFresh applications received increased by more than two and a half times, from 37,286 to 94,744, according to data from the California Department of Social Services.
In addition, households that receive CalFresh but haven’t been receiving the maximum amount allowed under federal guidelines will be eligible to receive additional funds up to that amount, up to $194 for a household of one or $646 for a household of four per month in April and May as emergency allotments. The first round was issued on April 12 and the next will be issued May 10, according to the California Food Banks website.
But the income limits to be eligible for CalFresh may leave others who are still in need ineligible. The maximum gross monthly income, pre-tax, to be eligible for CalFresh is $2,082 for a household of one or $4,292 for a household of four.
That’s where local nonprofits can step in.
The main food bank serving San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, is also seeing a major uptick in need. The food bank prioritizes serving households that earn no more than 275% of the federal poverty level, or about $35,000 for one individual or $72,050 for a family of four, according to Tracy Weatherby, vice president of strategy and advocacy at the food bank.
During the week of April 20, the nonprofit distributed about 25% more food than just a month earlier, Weatherby said.
With unemployment so widespread and growing, she added, “You can’t keep people fed entirely with food distributions.”
“We see need going up when government programs are not available,” said Weatherby. “There’s going to need to be significant government support of our communities through unemployment.”
In a recent report to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, Weatherby and Second Harvest CEO Leslie Bacho explained that the need for their services has expanded dramatically and without precedent in recent weeks.
“It’s heartbreaking to see so many people so desperately in need, so quickly,” Bacho told the supervisors at their April 21 meeting.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic crisis hit, she said, the nonprofit was providing about 58 million meals per year to people in need across the two counties, serving about 250,000 people per month.
Since then, the nonprofit’s food hotline has seen calls increase to about 1,200 calls per day, up from about 170 per day, and individual distribution sites have seen major increases in the number of households turning up, up between 25% and 100%.
Meanwhile, the number of volunteers has dropped, in part because the nonprofit is discouraging seniors from volunteering due to age-related vulnerability to COVID-19 complications. There have also been some challenges to the supply chain that have meant that sometimes the most preferred food items can’t be provided to their clients. The food supply for produce, fortunately, has remained strong in California, Weatherby said.
The food bank is “putting every resource we can” into feeding people now – not tomorrow or the next day, Weatherby said. “We are working as hard and fast as we can to get food into the hands of people who need it.”
They’ve had to adapt their distribution model to ensure safety as well, expanding into a new warehouse in San Jose, pre-boxing all food materials before they are distributed, and shifting the layout of food distributions to operate as drive-thrus, with minimal contact between recipients and volunteers.
Before the pandemic struck, the food bank’s offerings were laid out more like a farmers’ market, where people could walk up and pick the food items they wanted, Weatherby said.
The additional labor required to prepackage food is an added challenge, she said.
Fortunately, the nonprofit is getting some extra help; about 100 National Guard members have been helping to package boxes in the nonprofit’s warehouses. Also, some AmeriCorps volunteers who had been working at nonprofits that are not currently in operation are now volunteering at food banks.
“Almost all of our drive-thrus are growing week by week,” said Weatherby, “It’s a real challenge to keep up.”
The nonprofit allows on-site registration, but people are encouraged to visit the Second Harvest Food Bank website or call its phone number.
Response team formed
San Mateo County leaders are also taking their own steps to ensure food security beyond what local nonprofits are doing.
The county has formed the Food Availability Response Team, a task force focused on ensuring that nobody goes hungry in San Mateo County during the coronavirus pandemic.
The initiative is in its early phases, but the team is considering expanding meal or grocery delivery programs, with the intent of helping to fill in any gaps that other experts and nonprofits aren’t able to address, and to make it easier for people to find the information they need.
The task force is led by Anne-Marie Despain, the county library system’s Director of Library Services, and also counts among its members Peggy Jensen, deputy county manager, and Danae Ramirez, financial services manager at the library system.
Libraries are already embedded in the 11 communities they serve throughout the county, and have in the past been part of community efforts to keep people fed through partnerships that provide free or reduced-price meals to eligible school children during the summer when school is not in session, according to Jensen.
On May 1, the county announced it would be participating in a program called Great Plates, which was started at the state level. It matches older adults at high risk of developing complications from COVID-19 with restaurants and other food providers in the county.
Restaurants in the county are invited to apply to participate. The county will reimburse restaurants $66 per person for three meals provided per day. It’s anticipated that federal sources will also provide partial reimbursement, according to a press release.
To apply, they should fill out an online survey in English, Chinese, or Spanish, or call the following hotlines:
● Spanish: (833) 261-3663
● English: (833) 600-7276
● Mandarin: (833) 600-7275
“This program will provide food security for one of our most vulnerable populations and help provide essential economic stimulus to local businesses struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 crisis,” said Lisa Mancini, Director of Aging and Adult Services at the county’s department of health.
City feeding seniors too
In Menlo Park, city staff leaders have also stepped up to continue to provide services for vulnerable residents.
The city is now providing about 40 Menlo Park seniors meal deliveries three times per week, according to Derek Schweigart, the city’s community services director.
Meals are delivered using the city’s senior shuttle with two or three staff members wearing protective equipment and staying spread out. San Mateo-based nonprofit Samaritan House prepares the meals and the city delivers them.
Even before the pandemic struck, the senior center had delivered meals regularly to a dozen or so homebound seniors.
In addition to delivering meals, city staff are doing wellness checks for about 100 seniors, Schweigart said.
People can request a wellness check via the city’s website here.
If you need food:
● Call Second Harvest of Silicon Valley’s Food Connection hotline at 1-800-984-3663
● Text “GETFOOD” to 408-455-5181
● Email getfood@shfb.org
