Community Bridges will host its 10th Annual Farm to Fork Gala & Auction on Saturday, June 28, from 5 to 9 p.m. at Seascape Golf Club, 610 Clubhouse Drive, in Aptos.
Farm to Fork raises vital funds to support more than 20,000 local children, families, and older adults annually through Community Bridges’ 10 programs.
Since its launch in 2015, Farm to Fork has raised more than $550,000 to support the 10 Community Bridges programs. These funds have helped the organization weather historic challenges — from fires and floods to pandemics and economic downturns — while expanding services in powerful new ways.
Over the past decade, Community Bridges has:
- Delivered nearly 2 million meals to older adults through Meals on Wheels for Santa Cruz County.
- Provided hundreds of thousands of rides for people with disabilities and older adults via Lift Line.
- Distributed nearly 1 million bags of groceries through food distributions.
- Helped thousands of families navigate crises with wraparound support through the Family Resource Collective.
- Established a permanent headquarters in downtown Watsonville.
- Built new facilities for Elderday Adult Day Health Care and Lift Line’s vehicle operations.
- Launched new services including mental health counseling, eviction defense, and disaster response coordination.
This year’s gala recognizes two longtime supporters with the Bridge Builder Award:
- Driscoll’s, Inc., which has contributed over $200,000 and supported numerous events and services for farmworkers and families affected by natural disasters.
- Tere Carrubba & Cathe Race, co-chairs of the gala’s planning committee since its inception in 2015, whose leadership has helped raise over half a million dollars to support essential services.
Says Community Bridges CEO Raymon Cancino: “These past ten years have shown what’s possible when a community comes together to invest in people. But we’re entering a new chapter, one where the stakes are even higher and we must lean in on our community for support.”
Why Support Is Needed
As Community Bridges celebrates its accomplishments, the organization is sounding the alarm about a looming crisis. Billions of dollars in proposed federal and state cuts to SNAP (CalFresh) and Medi-Cal jeopardize access to basic needs like food and health care for thousands of local residents.
Programs like Meals on Wheels face funding cuts and instability, and the Family Resource Collective is being strained by policy shifts that directly attack the immigrant and working-class families they serve.
“We are seeing more need and fewer resources,” Cancino says. “The cost of food and fuel has soared, yet government funding has not kept pace. Without sustained local investment, many of our neighbors will be left behind.”
Gala proceeds will help Community Bridges continue to support essential, culturally responsive services — ensuring that no child goes without food, no senior is left isolated, and no family is turned away in a time of crisis.
TOP PHOTO: Tere Carrubba and Cathe Race