Facing a second year of pandemic upheaval, Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County surpassed its goal of raising enough money during its Holiday Food & Fund Drive to deliver 5 million meals to those in need.
At the start of Fleet Feet Aptos’ Run for Pie 5K on Thanksgiving, everyone is trying to catch the turkey.
On March 3, its first in-person indoor event in more than two years, the 50-year-old food bank announced that the community raised the equivalent of 5,025,166 healthy meals.
The campaign ran from Nov. 4, 2021, to Jan. 15, aiming to meet a need for food that had doubled in the pandemic from 55,000 to 110,000 people a month.
Each dollar helps Second Harvest deliver four meals.
Recognized local businesses include Martinelli’s, Fleet Feet, SUP Shack., Santa Cruz County Bank and Universal Audio.
S. Martinelli & Co., which makes the Gold Medal apple juice in Watsonville, made a company record-setting donation: Nearly 87,000 meals.
“I’m extremely proud of the Martinelli’s team for embracing this campaign and setting a donation record,” said Gun Ruder, president and CEO of S. Martinelli & Co. “We are committed to doing all that we can to provide nourishment to those who need it most.”
Martinelli’s team, Lyza Gianelli, John Martinelli, Jennifer Madrid, Nicole Juntunen and Gun Ruder present Richelle Noroyan from the Second Harvest Food Bank (fourth from the left) a check representing the number of meals Martinelli’s donated to the Holiday Food & Fund Drive.
The company sponsors the eye-catching Second Harvest trucks that deliver food to its partners.
Throughout the year, Martinelli’s donates its award-winning juices and sparkling ciders, which are 100% juice made from U.S. grown fresh apples without added sweeteners or chemical preservatives.
“The Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County relies on the generous and ongoing support of our corporate partners, like Martinelli’s,” said Richelle Noroyan, corporate and community relations director, Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County.
Big Step
Santa Cruz County Bank won the Big Step Award, collecting the equivalent of 32,060 healthy meals — an increase of 12,000 over the prior year, thanks to the generosity of its customers, employees, and Board of Directors.
“We’ve been acutely aware of the extraordinary need for support, heightened and amplified by the pandemic,” said Krista Snelling, Santa Cruz County Bank president and CEO. “We’re so grateful to be part of this hugely successful campaign to fight food insecurity. Our entire community stepped up!”
In Scotts Valley, Universal Audio, employees of the award-winning professional recording hardware and software company, raised $7,891 for meals — and the company matched that amount for a total donation of $15,782.
At Fleet Feet Aptos, Aubrey Curl, the operating partner, said the running store raised more than $4,000 by sponsoring the 9th annual Run for Pie, a 5K race on Thanksgiving.
In 2020, when the Lighted Boat Parade was cancelled, Trudie Ransom, owner of the SUP Shack, hosted the Santa SUP at the Santa Cruz Harbor, attracting 60 people in perfect weather and raising $2,000 for Second Harvest.
In 2021, Ransom upped her efforts, hosting the 10th annual Harbor Witches Paddle, aiming to raise $1,000 for Second Harvest. More than 30 people showed up in their witch’s finest and paddled around the harbor.
“For an hour, all you could hear was swished of the paddleboards and cackling of crazy witches,” she said.
For the Santa SUP in December, 20 people came despite cooler weather, raising $1,000 for Second Harvest.
Many smaller organizations were vital to the fundraiser — and local institutions delivered in a major way.
Twin Lakes Church in Aptos created the “Acts of Kindness” initiative, assisting neighbors with hundreds of projects, and raising more than $300,000, enough for 1.2 million meals.
UCSC Record
UC Santa Cruz shattered its previous records, raising the equivalent of 376,099 meals for Second Harvest, winning the President’s Cup award, presented to the public institution that raises the most.
UCSC’s Staff Advisory Board runs the campus food drive.
Second Harvest named Nathan McCall, chairman of UCSC’s Staff Advisory Board and manager of HR Business Information Services, as one of its three Coordinators of the Year, describing him as “engaged, enthusiastic, and with an attention to detail that made UCSC’s food drive a great success.”
A generous donation from former Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor David Kliger, who retired in 2010, and his wife Rachel Kliger, put the campus over the top.
In 2020, UCSC raised about $39,000 in its holiday food drive. In 2021, UCSC initially raised a little more, $39,090.
“But then, the Kliger family came in and gave a $35,000 gift and then another $20,000 gift on top of that,’’ McCall told the campus news report. “It was just incredible… Everything was almost the same and then there was this massively generous gift,” McCall said.
Kliger explained the gifts this way: Tikkun olam, a concept in Judaism that means repair the world and the need to address food insecurity first before tackling other problems.
Swishes for Dishes
The Santa Cruz Warriors teamed up with Kaiser Permanente and The Athletes’ Corner on Swishes for Dishes, raising 50,280 meals for Second Harvest when the G League moved to Orlando for Covid safety in 2020-21.
How? Santa Cruz donated 30 meals per point the Warriors scored during the season in Orlando. With a goal of 50,000 meals, the Sea Dubs surpassed that target and scored 1,676 points, totaling 50,280 meals for the Santa Cruz community.
The feat “not only demonstrates the great talent of this year’s team, but shows the deep commitment the Santa Cruz Warriors organization has for the wellbeing of our community,” said Suzanne Willis, chief development officer of Second Harvest Food Bank.
“The impacts of COVID-19 increased food insecurity drastically in our community,” said Santa Cruz Warriors President Chris Murphy.
Sam Bajaj, Chief Operating Officer for Kaiser Permanente San Jose and Santa Cruz County, added, “Kaiser Permanente recognizes that access to nutritious food is critical to good health.”
The Swishes for Dishes campaign’s 17 posts on social media racked up 488,000 impressions on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
The Golden State Warriors implemented the Swishes for Dishes initiative this season and have surpassed 835,000 meals donated to food banks throughout the Bay Area as of May 4.
Willy Elliot-McCrea, the retiring CEO at Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County, is grateful.
“As we move into our 50th year, we look forward to continuing to serve the community with our next Holiday Food & Fund Drive,” he said.
During the awards dinner, Darrie Ganzhorn, executive director of the Homeless Garden Project, was recognized as Second Harvest Food Bank’s Hunger Fighter of the Year. Ganzhorn joined the nonprofit with a mission to help those who are unhoused with job skills in the garden soon after its inception in 1991.