Feed hungry people in the Bay Area

Good, healthy food is a priority in the Fry-Russo household. Many people rely on food banks to meet their daily nutrition needs, especially during the current economic downturn.

The San Francisco Food Bank believes it is morally wrong and unnecessary for anyone in America to suffer from hunger. We define hunger as the shortage of enough food to live a healthy life. The hungry individual faces the inability to afford food or to shop for, store, and prepare food. He or she also may lack access to food programs available through the government or private charities. For an adult, hunger can impair vital daily activities such as working and caring for children. For children who have suffered from a lack of food, the effects are more profound. From lower academic achievement to long-term cognitive impairment, anemia and stunting, the affects of childhood hunger can last a lifetime.

In our prosperous San Francisco community, over 150,000 people -- or one in five -- are at risk of going hungry because they are poor. Magnified by high housing costs and a rising cost of living, poverty in San Francisco strikes children, elderly, single adults and working families of every age, race and gender.

The San Francisco Food Bank works with over 400 human service agencies that provide meal or assistance programs for people in need. This year, we will meet the critical need for food in our city by distributing 20 million pounds of fresh produce, frozen, and perishable foods and packaged grocery products throughout our city. With this food, the San Francisco Food Bank will provide approximately 44,000 meals each day to low-income people in San Francisco.