The following is adapted from a press release provided by Laura Hamby. It was a day filled with smiles and fun as a crowd of 400 people gathered, September 28,...
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Second Harvest Food Bank hosted it’s annual Chefs’ Dinner on Sept. 12, 2019. This signature event which includes a Six-course meal prepared by some of Santa Cruz County's finest Chefs,...
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Like other parts of the country, the Central Coast has poverty and social challenges, especially when the cost of living and slow wage growth are taken into the equation. The...
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It is a sunny Thursday morning in Aptos, California, and a large truck from Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz drives onto the campus of Cabrillo College. Boxes of fresh produce – carrots, watermelons, potatoes, lettuce, corn, and tomatoes – are unloaded by student volunteers and brought into…
Debra was raised in Washington D.C., the youngest of 4 girls. Her husband, William, was also from back east, and his career in the Army transferred them to The Presidio in San Francisco until William retired from the service. They were offered relocation assistance to anywhere in the…
CalFresh Nutrition Assistance benefits for February will be issued EARLY to most clients’ EBT accounts on January 16, 2019 due to the federal government’s shutdown. For more information, visit California Department of Social Services. Local Coverage: Santa Cruz Sentinel KAZU
Last fall, Sarah Underwood, Second Harvest Food Bank’s Senior Director of Nutrition and Health, paid a visit to a local school, Live Oak Elementary in Santa Cruz, which is part of the Cradle to Career (C2C) initiative. C2C, which is a collaborative effort by parents and local education,…
After fires ravaged wine country earlier this fall, thousands of residents were left homeless and destitute. Though Second Harvest is 130 miles away, we found a way to help by...
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People often ask how we get so much healthy produce, and how we manage to turn every dollar into four healthy meals. One of the answers to both questions is Farm to Family. In the old days (before the program started in the late 1990s), farmers’ surplus product…
One of the first things visitors to southern Santa Cruz County notice are the acres upon acres of farmland blanketing the Pajaro Valley. Drop in during the summer and you’ll see farmworkers harvesting and packing little red, pink, and blue gems—strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries—for distribution throughout the…
Sometimes people aren’t aware of something until they need it. For many victims of disaster, like those of Hurricane Harvey, the aftermath revealed the existence—and critical importance—of community food banks. Ever since Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast late last month, the Houston Food Bank has taken…
At the federal, state, and local level, Second Harvest stays on top of the policies that affect our clients. This year, the programs designed to help them—effective and desperately needed food safety net programs—are under particularly heavy threat, especially at the federal level. But those threats are drawing…
The path out of homelessness can be long and full of pitfalls. If you’re unemployed, you might not have a phone or any means of getting messages from job prospects. Or you might have an interview set up, but you’re a change of clothes and a haircut short…
Like other parts of the country, the Central Coast has poverty and social challenges, but when it comes to hunger, it stands out from most other places in one key way: we’re leaving many more resources that could relieve hunger sitting on the table. That was the backdrop…
This week, Second Harvest hit the Hill—Capitol Hill—to send a message to legislators about the food assistance programs that help so many of our neighbors in Santa Cruz County and...
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