*This is a special feature from the City of San Jose, Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services

As demand for meals continues to increase amidst the new stay-at-home order in Santa Clara County, food resources are still available for residents in need of food assistance.

In order to reach prioritized populations, the City of San José is providing food assistance through several distribution channels, including: community-based organizations, school sites, targeted placements for displaced individuals, the Great Plates Delivered program, senior nutrition programs and the Meals on Wheels program.

“One of the big things that we are able to do is to actually purchase a percentage of our food,” said Alisha Keezer-Lewis, Director of Supply Chain at Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley during an earlier phone interview. “We’re very grateful to many of our financial donors that have allowed us to do that.”

San José residents receive fresh fruit and vegetables from a distribution site operated by CityTeam Ministries in East San José. Visit www.cityteam.org/san-jose to donate today. Photo Courtesy of CityTeam.

According to weekly data provided by the City of San José, 1.5 million meals were distributed in the City thanks to the efforts of community partners like Second Harvest— where over 180,000 meals were distributed last week.

Not only is Second Harvest one of the leading food distribution providers for low-income residents, but their network of 300 community-based organizations are targeting communities that are most at risk.

According to Feeding America, an organization fighting the hunger crisis in the country for 40 years, food insecurity remains disproportionately high among underserved communities due to the economic impacts of COVID-19, leading to an increased emphasis for more assistance services and support.

“Families are really suffering,” said Brett Bymaster, Executive Director of Healing Health Grove Center, over the phone back in November. “And our data is showing how much families rely on us.”

Volunteers pack food box full of fresh produce during a food giveaway event at Emma Prusch Farm Park. Visit www.shfb.org or www.catholiccharitiesscc.org to sign up and volunteer today. Photo taken by Jonathan Bisquera.

A report released by Feeding America, “The Impact of the Coronavirus on Food Insecurity in 2020” highlights the amplified need to provide food assistance to underserved communities, especially as millions of people are experiencing food insecurity for the first time in their lives.

San José families wait in line to receive food boxes at a distribution site in East San José. Visit bit.ly/SCCFoodMap to find a food distribution site near you. Photo Courtesy of CityTeam Ministries.

According to the report, vulnerable groups such as children, members of the Latinx community, and the African-American community are at most risk and are experiencing widespread challenges due to employment loss brought on by COVID-19.

To find out how you can access food resources in your neighborhood, please visit bit.ly/SCCFoodMap.

#SiliconValleyStrong #SJCares #KeepSJHealthy

In addition, many of these organizations cannot help the community without your help. Hundreds of volunteers are needed to assist nonprofit partners to help distribute critical food and necessities to residents in need. Partners include local nonprofits Second Harvest Food Bank, Veggielution, Sourcewise, First 5 Santa Clara County, the Salvation Army and Martha’s Kitchen.

Even with the new “Stay-At-Home” orders, Volunteers have been deemed “essential” by the State of California to help aid in packaging, distributing, and/or delivering meals at food banks and other public food security programs as part of the state’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.

Submit an application to volunteer at SV Strong: https://siliconvalleystrong.org/volunteer/