Alameda County Community Food Bank

‘Tis The Season For Giving

Organize a Holiday Food Drive in your business or community.

See how we can stretch your cash donations
with our new Virtual Food Drive.

Who We Are What We Do

The Alameda County Community Food Bank is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has been serving the community since 1985. As the county's clearinghouse for donated food, the Food Bank provides food assistance for 40,000 low-income Alameda County residents each week, which includes 14,000 children and 7,000 seniors. Most adults served are among the working poor.

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Provide food to 300 community agencies that serve on-site meals and/or food bags for their clients

Distribute bags of food to school children in need

Distribute fresh fruits and vegetables several times a week to member agencies

Operate a toll-free emergency food helpline that makes over 1,000 referrals each month

Conduct food stamp outreach clinics

Educate the community and public officials about the causes of hunger and poverty

Waste Management “Curb Hunger” Food Drive in Oakland
October 6 – 10

Waste Management of Alameda County (WMAC) is partnering with the City of Oakland in a unique food drive aimed at collecting 50,000 pounds of food for the Alameda County Community Food Bank. Oakland residents are encouraged to place bagged non-perishable food items alongside their trash and recycle carts on their regularly scheduled collection day from Monday, October 6 through Friday, October 10. WMAC vans will follow the company’s fleet of clean-fuel trucks to collect donated food items at the curb.

For Oakland residents who miss their collection day, don’t fret – simply take your donated food to one of 15 collection sites in Alameda County!

2007-2008 Legislative Season brings much needed improvements to nutrition programs!

Governor Schwarzenegger and the California Legislature took a giant step towards improving the nutrition of low-income Californians by enacting 4 out of our 6 anti-hunger bills. The Governor has made it significantly easier for more households to access nutritious food. Many of the bills connect Medi-Cal and nutrition programs, strengthening the link between good nutrition and good health.

Read about these bills

Food Bank Executive Director receives Community Helper Award

Food Bank Executive Director Suzan Bateson receives the first Community Helper Award at Good Cents for Oakland’s Wine & Art Event on October 2. The award, for exemplary commitment to the children of Oakland, recognized Bateson’s effort to feed some 14,000 kids every week. Read more.

Family to Family Volunteer Day
Saturday, October 25, 9 -11 am

Join us for a family-friendly service learning opportunity for parent and children.
(ages 5 and up)

Learn about the face of hunger in your community
Participate in a meaningful, hands-on activity
Teach your children about the importance of giving back

Space is limited and pre-registration is required. To register, or for additional information, call 510-635-3663 ext. 308 or send an email.

Holiday Food & Fund Drive
Oct. 1-Jan. 31

This has been an exceptional year of economic hardship in Alameda County. Our Food Helpline requests are up 39% from 2007 … and have skyrocketed 59% compared to 2006. That’s why we’ve set an unprecedented goal for our 2008 Holiday Drive: 750,000 pounds of food. We’ve also added a new twist to help everyone tap into our vast network of food-purchasing resources: The Virtual Food Drive (coming Oct. 1). To get a jump-start on your own holiday food drive, click here.

KFOG Live From the Archives - Volume 15
Nov. 1

KFOG’s annual Live From the Archives CD has raised more than $3 million for Bay Area Food Banks – Volumes 13 (2006) and 14 (2007) raised $142,000 for the Alameda County Community Food Bank alone. This year, Alameda County-based Peet’s Coffee will be the exclusive retail distributor of the Bay Area’s hottest-selling CD!

Read More

Thanks for Sharing
Through Dec. 31

Macy’s will donate a portion of every credit card purchase to Bay Area Food Banks – part of a $13 million holiday drive for great causes!

Hunger Heroes

Over the summer, Betsy, Ellie and Tess volunteered at the Food Bank. Then, at their recent combined 12th birthday party, they asked their friends to donate food or cash to the Food Bank in lieu of gifts. The girls are pictured here with the two barrels of food they filled at the party – at which they also raised $180.

Read about Hunger Heroes whose outstanding deeds have helped the Food Bank serve 40,000 people each week.

Hunger: The Faces & Facts

Hunger: The Faces & Facts is a study commissioned by the Alameda County Community Food Bank in partnership with America's Second Harvest, the Nation's Food Bank Network,™ and Mathematica Policy Research, Inc (MPR). This research is undertaken every four years, and continually offers the most comprehensive analysis of charitable hunger relief efforts in Alameda County.

This report is a result of personal interviews with 407 households receiving emergency food assistance at food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters throughout Alameda County. Using an extensive survey developed by MPR, interviewers collected demographic information about those receiving emergency food assistance in the county, learned why and how low-income households become at risk for hunger and documented how families cope with poverty and hunger.

Press Release Executive Summary (4 pages, pdf* file) Hunger: The Faces & The Facts
(full report, 24 pages pdf* file)

4-Star Rating on Charity Navigator!

We have been given a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator, America's premier independent charity evaluator. Click on the logo to find out why.

* These documents are .pdf (Portable Document Format) files and require Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you need to download the reader please use the link below.