The San Francisco Food Bank to Provide Fixings for Thousands Through Holiday Food Distribution

San Francisco, CA, November 19, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Inside the San Francisco Food Bank, volunteers work to sort fresh fruits and vegetables, packaging boxes of stuffing and filling bags with canned green beans and turkey or chicken, while across the city of San Francisco and Marin those in need line up outside of one of over two hundred neighborhood grocery pantries to receive the first of what is to be many distributions of holiday food.

The San Francisco Food Bank is set to provide over 30,000 households with everything they need to prepare complete Thanksgiving meals in their own homes. This is an increase of more than 8,000 families from this time last year. In addition to chicken and turkey, the Food Bank will be distributing other traditional holiday staples including: stuffing, ingredients for pumpkin pie (pumpkin filling, evaporated milk, pie crust), green beans, onions, sweet potatoes, fresh potatoes, fruit, gravy, cranberry sauce, beans, rice, chocolate truffles and fresh baked bread thanks to local bread companies.

“We’ve seen a change in the number of people visiting the pantries this year,” said Paul Ash, Executive Director of the San Francisco Food Bank. “We expect to see a lot of first-time clients this holiday season. Many are working families who have seen a reduction in hours or have lost their jobs and will have to depend on the generosity of others to get their holiday meals together.”

The San Francisco Food Bank will distribute 36.5 million pounds of food to the community this year – enough for 78,000 meals every day. The San Francisco Food Bank relies on a large network of supporters from growers, packers and processors to the USDA, grocery stores, corporate groups and individuals to make an impact to end hunger. "We would not be successful without the support of the community around us," Ash said. "This is a wonderful opportunity for people to come together to help those who are truly in need this holiday season.”

The San Francisco Food Bank collects, sorts, repackages and distributes thousands of pounds of food every day and will continue seeking donations throughout the year. People are encouraged to donate nonperishable items which can be dropped off at local grocery stores throughout the city in green San Francisco Food Bank barrels or to make a donation online by visiting www.sffoodbank.org/donate

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