{"id":31285,"date":"2022-08-08T15:35:45","date_gmt":"2022-08-08T22:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cafoodbanks.org\/?p=31285"},"modified":"2022-08-12T16:19:11","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T23:19:11","slug":"membermonday-efb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cafoodbanks.org\/zh\/blog\/membermonday-efb\/","title":{"rendered":"#MemberMonday: Emergency Food Bank Stockton \/ San Joaquin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emergency Food Bank Stockton\/San Joaquin<\/a> has faithfully served the residents of Stockton and surrounding areas for more than 50 years \u2014 54 to be exact.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Food Bank was established in 1968 by a group of community leaders seeing that there was a need to help hardworking individuals who were having a difficult time making ends meet. The mission of the Emergency Food Bank is to build a stronger community by providing a safety net of healthy food, nutrition education, and hope to residents of San Joaquin County who find themselves in need. The food bank began as a grassroots nonprofit and continues to be supported by the community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Emergency Food Bank’s hardworking staff has remained true to their mission statement \u2014 the Food Bank’s doors have never closed during the 2+ years of the COVID-19 pandemic. When shutdowns began in March 2020, staff adjusted quickly as food needed to be distributed safely to families in need. Within hours, their walk-up service was converted to a drive-up service, which continues to this day. Volunteers continue to assist staff in sorting, packaging, and distributing products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    The need for healthy food has continued to be great. Their main food pantry, located at 7 West Scotts Avenue in Stockton, is serving 30% more families than the same five-month period of 2021. The Food Bank currently serves 496,000 more individuals per year than it did prior to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    In 2020, the Food Bank launched their DoorDash program with San Joaquin 211. The program is designed to bring food to homebound residents. It started with modest numbers and has grown to reach 707 homes per week. The Food Bank is proud to have been the pilot for this program \u2014 it was because of their nimble staff that they were able to provide this service to their county.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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    Community outreach slowed down during the pandemic \u2014 however, as of July, 2022, their Mobile Farmers Market program has bounced back and now serves 65 sites throughout San Joaquin County. The Food Bank’s Nutrition Educators are reaching out to the public school system, armed with healthy food presentations and produce giveaways for elementary school classrooms. You can watch a one-minute video of a Mobile Farmers Market distribution in Stockton: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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