San Francisco Food Bank Opens its 200th Grocery Pantry to Meet Increasing Need

Nov. 4, 2009 - PRLog -- San Francisco, CA – This Thursday, in the midst of preparing for the holiday season, the San Francisco Food Bank will open its 200th pantry in San Francisco to meet the increasing need for food.  The new pantry will be located at the Lutheran Social Services Mosaica Housing Project at 2949 18th St. in the Mission District of San Francisco.

The Food Bank works to ensure that individuals and families have access to nutritious food by securing donations from a variety of sources, including growers, manufacturers, packers, community food drives and supermarkets.  Then placing the food right back into the community where it is needed the most.  Over half of what is distributed by the San Francisco Food Bank is fresh produce.

Over the past ten years, the Food Bank has continuously developed pantries to support the growing number of people living at or near the poverty line in San Francisco.   The need for 200 pantries is symbolic of the times and is a reflection of the current economic condition.  

With food requests up 20% over this time last year and an unemployment rate that has just topped 10%; the San Francisco Food Bank is responding to needs and has opened six Recession Relief pantries in the past four months.  The 200th pantry will operate as a Healthy Children Pantry serving primarily children and their families.  The Food Bank encourages people to call 2-1-1 operators, supported by the United Way, who can direct callers to food, housing, employment, health care, and counseling assistance in their neighborhood.

"Through these tough economic times the Food Bank will continue to establish new opportunities to move food to people who needed it most.  It’s staggering to think that so many people need food assistance.” said Paul Ash, Executive Director of the San Francisco Food Bank, “We currently have an average of four pantries per square mile in the city and people are still struggling to provide enough food for their families.”

Members of the media are encouraged to stop by the 200th pantry; Lutheran Social Services Mosaica Housing Project at 2949 18th St. in the Mission District of San Francisco at 3:30 PM on Thursday, November 5 to meet volunteers and speak with Paul Ash who will be available for interviews.

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About the San Francisco Food Bank
Hunger is a serious problem in San Francisco – with 1 in 4 children and 1 in 5 adults at risk of hunger. Every day, the San Francisco Food Bank sources, collects, sorts, inspects and repackages thousands of pounds of food, then distributes it to soup kitchens, neighborhood grocery centers, school programs and seniors in need.

The San Francisco Food Bank serves 22,000 households weekly throughout San Francisco and Marin counties, and will distribute 36.5 million pounds of food to the community this year – enough for 78,000 meals every day. Over half of what is distributed is fresh produce. For more information, visit www.SFFoodBank.org.