Second Harvest of Silicon Valley: More than a food drive

By Ellen Lathrop, Program Associate at the Koret Foundation

Food banks have changed substantially since the days of your elementary school canned food drive, and that’s a good thing.  Instead of spaces to amass canned goods that have been languishing in the back of the pantry, they now more closely resemble highly-organized food service facilities. Last month, I visited an organization in the vanguard of this movement, Silicon Valley’s Second Harvest.  

The first thing I noticed was the sheer size and scope of the space. The warehouse is huge, a buzzing hub of activity where 125 million pounds of food per year is sorted and prepped for distribution. Volunteers in a cheery orange room sorted mountains of fresh produce into family-sized boxes. Employees maneuvered forklifts around boxes of asparagus, melons, and lettuce stacked in massive, temperature-controlled rooms, awaiting a small fleet of trucks designed to get food to their nearly 900 sites quickly and efficiently.  

I had the privilege of not only touring the facility, but getting to sit down with staff who gave me a peek behind the scenes into how Second Harvest operates and how their ambitious plans for the future will meet the complex challenges facing Silicon Valley communities. 

Unlike previous food bank models, Second Harvest mostly provides fresh, local produce, emphasizing that financial need shouldn’t preclude participants from flavor and nutrition. They partner with grocery stores or directly with farmers to ensure participants have access to fruits, vegetables, and fresh baked goods. These logistics are complex and require a large amount of effort, capital, and efficiency to meet ever-growing needs, especially as the pandemic and its effects have caused many more people to struggle.  

The upswell in food insecurity created by the pandemic initially came with an increase in donations, as community members sought to help their neighbors through (what we thought was) a short-term emergency. However, more than four years later, the food bank is still serving the same number of people they were at the height of the pandemic, only now with 60% less donations. 

In an area where cost of living has skyrocketed and many people perform a grim daily accounting on whether to spend their resources on food, shelter, medication, or transportation, the food bank is more critical than ever. Staff estimate that one in six residents between Daly City and Gilroy benefit from their services, and their average of 500,000 people served per month is double their pre-pandemic average of 250,0000.  

The increase in need has caused Second Harvest to re-evaluate their model, which is currently spread thin across four warehouses. They are stretched to capacity and eager to streamline operations and move into a more sustainable space. As a result, Second Harvest has launched an ambitious capital campaign to construct a larger new warehouse, an endeavor which the Koret Foundation is excited to be supporting. This new warehouse will consolidate three existing spaces, allowing the organization to be more efficient and streamlined. It will add volunteer space, increase capacity, and be more energy-efficient, supporting the transition from the crisis-response model of the past four years into a sustainable, prepared space ready to meet community needs. 

While Second Harvest works tirelessly on behalf of community members experiencing food insecurity, they haven’t lost sight of their bigger goal: to eradicate hunger altogether. On my visit, staff highlighted the work of their small but mighty advocacy team, which has worked with legislators to successfully expand school lunches and CalFresh benefits for seniors. Ahead of the election, they are working to ensure that their community’s voice is heard, packing boxes with voter registration information.  

Second Harvest is a model food bank of the future, deeply committed to serving community members and improving outcomes for Silicon Valley residents. As individuals, families, and entire communities continue to struggle, it’s critical to support the efforts of Second Harvest through donations, volunteering, and spreading the word about the critical work they do.