Alameda County Community Food Bank

Press Releases: Alameda County Community Food Bank Celebrates 20th Years of Service to Community

Contact: Kari Martell
(510) 636-4902

Alameda County Community Food Bank Celebrates 20th Years of Service to Community

Food Bank survives one earthquake, two name changes and three locations in 20 years

Oakland, Calif. (February 25, 2005)—The Alameda County Community Food Bank was incorporated 20 years ago as the Food Bank Network, comprised of 40 founding agencies. It opened its first 19,000 square foot warehouse in West Oakland distributing USDA surplus commodities. A substantial donation from singer Bruce Springsteen helped this non-profit get started in its mission to alleviate hunger. Today, the Alameda County Community Food Bank has 300 member agencies that serve 120,000 people each month, and distributes 12 million pounds of food a year.

A year after incorporating, the Food Bank became a member of the Second Harvest National Food Bank Network, and has remained a member in good standing to this day.

In 1989, the warehouse survived the Loma Prieta earthquake and the Food Bank was able to provide emergency food services to the community in the aftermath of this natural disaster.

A name change and relocation came next, with the Food Bank Network giving way to the Alameda County Community Food Bank, and a move to a 32,000 square foot warehouse in East Oakland. A third move came in 1999, when the Food Bank moved into the former Oakland Army Base Commissary, a 55,000 square foot space.

With Executive Director Suzan Bateson at the helm since 2001, the Food Bank released a survey of emergency food recipients in Alameda County, called the "Hunger Study," that highlighted such facts as 43% of the Food Bank's clients were children. The Food Bank held its first annual Savor the Season fundraiser at Wente Wineries in 2003, and its first annual Nutrition Conference in 2004. The Food Bank’s "Food Helpline" celebrated its 10th anniversary and made over 12,000 food referrals to clients in need.