Three-hundred tons of nutrition from annual food drive

Turkey donations at the Sacramento Food Bank.

CDFA knows food. We inspect it, we protect it, and we really enjoy it. So when the State of California came looking for a lead agency to coordinate the annual State Employees Food Drive, they didn’t have to look far. This year, CDFA is announcing a new partnership with Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services (SFBFS) to help us surpass last year’s phenomenal collection of 621,644 pounds of donated food. Let’s make it all the way to 700,000 pounds!

SFBFS is Sacramento County’s largest direct food bank provider feeding approximately 40,000 food insecure individuals a month, including 15,000 children and with 8,000 senior citizens. In 2013, SFBFS distributed over 6.5 million pounds of food, including 2 million pounds of fresh California grown fruits and vegetables.

If this sounds like something you’d like to be a part of, there are several convenient ways that you can help:

1. The annual turkey drop is this Friday, Nov, 21, from 4:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. at SFBFS, on the corner of 3rd Avenue and 33rd Street. (3333 3rd Ave.)
2. Fill those bins! State offices throughout the region have staged colorful bins to collect donated canned goods and other items. Set a reminder on your smartphone today and you can bring a few items in tomorrow – easy!
3. Rice Donation Program – monetary donations accepted – details on the food drive web site at http://www.fooddrive.ca.gov/Rice_Donation_Program.asp
4. Individual departments, agencies and offices think up all sorts of creative ways to collect donations on-site, so keep an eye out for the posters, emails and other information sources at your workplace.

December is Farm to Food Bank Month . Help increase farm to food bank donations to 200 million pounds annually by making a product donation or future donation pledge today – contact Steve Linkhart, California Association of Food Bank at (510) 350-9916.

For our friends and foodies– tweet, Instagram or Facebook  – #CAGrown with a pic of California Grown produce and a pound of food will be donated to a local food bank.