Second Harvest of Silicon Valley

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley (also known as "Second Harvest"), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established in 1974 and incorporated in 1979, has the mission of leading our community to ensure that everyone who needs a healthy meal can get one. As an organization, Second Harvest faced one of its greatest challenges of living up to the mission during the covid-19 pandemic. The economic crises created by the pandemic pushed many families deeper into poverty and caused many others to seek food assistance for the very first time. Within just a few months of the onset of the pandemic, the number of clients Second Harvest served grew from 250,000 to over 500,000 on average per month. (continued on schedule o)while vaccines are widely available and businesses have reopened, the economic environment has only worsened due to inflation. Record-high food and gas prices, a housing shortage and the financial devastation caused by the pandemic have prompted another surge in the need for food assistance. Second Harvest does not believe the level of clients requiring its services will decrease to pre-pandemic levels. Second Harvest is continuing to serve 450,000 people on average every month, and the client numbers are trending up as the challenging economic conditions continue. Second Harvest anticipates this level of food insecurity will continue.during the pandemic Second Harvest transitioned from walk-up to drive-thru distributions providing pre-boxed food to ensure the safety of its clients, volunteers and staff. Drive-thru grocery distributions offer clients a pre-selected mix of foods, while Second Harvest's walk-up farmers' market-style distributions allow clients to choose only the foods they want. As Second Harvest moves forward, it has focused its efforts on continuing to safely provide enough food to meet the higher demand, while transitioning some sites back to farmers market style distributions. Second Harvest's mix of distributions using both the choice and drive-thru models has allowed it to better meet its clients needs. In addition, Second Harvest continues to deliver pre-boxed groceries to an average of 4,900 households with homebound seniors and high-risk individuals.during fiscal year 2022, Second Harvest distributed 130 million pounds of food nearly 11 million pounds per month, versus 144 million pounds delivered in fiscal year 2021. While the total pounds decreased year over year, the amount of food delivered in fiscal year 2022 exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 90%, up from 69 million pounds in 2019. Meeting the increased need for food assistance in our community has continued to be a challenge as Second Harvest is currently operating out of four locations, one of which was specifically leased to support its increased distribution needs during the pandemic. While the leased facility continues to be a critical component of Second Harvest's overall operations, Second Harvest has realized that operating out of four sites is not sustainable. As a result, during fiscal year 2022, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley acquired 10.4 acres of land in north san jose with the intention of building a new operations warehouse that will allow it to consolidate its existing four operating warehouses into one location. Second Harvest believes the new facility is critical for it to improve and expand on its ability to deliver a nutritious mix of foods to the community.