Second Harvest Food Bank logo.

Welcome to a very brief overview of the UCSC Holiday Food & Fund Drive!

 

Purpose Statement
The purpose of the UCSC Holiday Food & Fund Drive community is to funnel resources to the Second Harvest Food Bank and educate the campus about how they are meeting the food needs of our UCSC community.
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What we do:

We uplift and support the work of the Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) of Santa Cruz by:

  • All year round, we have service volunteers who are willing to come into your department to:
    • Educate about the food needs of the UCSC community.
    • Facilitate a hands-on experience for your team, wherein they will receive a tour of the food distribution center in Watsonville and participate in food preparation or distribution activities.

Why we do it:

As you can read in the UCSC Blum Center report, Santa Cruz County: "Experiences of food insecurity ... have been found to negatively impact health and well-being, child development, and academic performance. ... Second Harvest Food Bank and its network of nonprofit and community partners ... play an invaluable role in alleviating food insecurity in Santa Cruz County and must be fully supported."

 

Why we support Second Harvest Food Bank:

  • It is as simple as this: Second Harvest Food Bank can help more people, using the same amount of money, than other organizations or individuals. They can provide 3 meals for every $1 donated, due to their extensive relationships with farmers, retailers, food bank networks, and dedicated volunteers.
  • SHFB sources over 10 million pounds of food each year from farms, grocery stores, food manufacturers, distributors, and individuals. They distribute this food to 100 food pantries, schools, soup kitchens, group homes, and youth centers... plus another 100 Second Harvest program sites!
  • More than 60% of the food they distribute is fresh produce, making SHFB the Healthiest Food Bank in the nation.
  • SHFB reaches over 65,000 people each month since COVID hit. Typically, these are children, seniors, veterans, homeless, working poor, and others who need some help from their neighbors to make it through a tough time.
  • Read more about how SHFB supports UCSC.

 

Check out this video to learn more about Second Harvest Food Bank: