Food banks face high need in San Mateo County

Second Harvest provides fresh food supplies to more than 400 local nonprofits in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, with 129,000 clients a month in San Mateo County alone — essentially the same number of individuals that required food help during the height of the pandemic, Bacho said.

During the pandemic, federal benefit programs and an excess of private donations helped to serve Silicon Valley residents in need, Bacho said. Now, the organization not only isn’t seeing that level of support, but is dealing with uncertainty of food supply on a federal level.

“All of that extra support has gone away, and we are still trying to serve the same number of people,” she said.

A statement from the USDA did not address the specifics of the cancellations, but noted that states were provided nearly $1 billion in March for local food purchasing, $255 million of which remains unspent. 

“[Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins] encourages states to utilize these dollars for schools, charitable feeding organizations and other programs that serve those in need,” the statement said. 

Threats to federal funding for food support services like the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program — known locally as CalFresh — may also put additional stress on food bank warehouses like Second Harvest of Silicon Valley in the future, Bacho said.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, lambasted Republicans pushing for budget cuts to SNAP via legislation — which recently passed the House Agriculture Committee — that would require states to cover portions of benefit costs and narrow eligibility. He also pushed against GOP efforts to pass legislation that would cut elements of funding for Medicaid, the health care service for low-income residents. 

“I spent over 26 hours straight in the budget markup this week fighting these health care cuts, and I know my Democratic colleagues on the Agriculture Committee fought hard to push back against Republicans who want to take away food assistance,” Mullin said in a statement. “I hope Republicans are ready to look their constituents in the eye and explain to them why they voted to take away food and medicine from those who need it most.”

Nearly 45,800 residents in Mullin’s district — which encompasses most of San Mateo County — use food benefit programs. 

“If Republicans cut federal support for SNAP, it will inevitably lead to more demand on local food banks that are already suffering from the USDA suddenly halting federal deliveries of desperately-needed food,” Mullin said.

Even with existing benefit programs and food assistance in place in the county, many residents continue to struggle, Bacho said.

A recent survey of Second Harvest’s client base found that nine of 10 respondents with children are concerned about having enough food to feed their families, and 60% of households overall aren’t making enough to cover their monthly expenses, despite the majority of those households having at least one individual working full time.

“This survey really just helped illustrate what a challenge it is for folks living in Silicon Valley, [and] how hard it is for folks to pay rent, other expenses and still afford food,” Bacho said.

Samaritan House, a poverty nonprofit in San Mateo County, receives around 75% of its food supply for assistance programs — like prepared meal services, food drive-thrus and supermarket-style food pantries — from Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, CEO Laura Bent said.

“As soon as there’s a reduction of food going to a food bank like Second Harvest, Silicon Valley, it’s immediately going to impact their community based partners,” she said. “As their largest partner in San Mateo County, we count on that food to get it out to the community residents that need it.”

Samaritan House is currently budgeting for an increase in funding to purchase food for its client programming, which in turn will create an increased need to focus on fundraising.

“It does have an effect on us, not only in the dollars and cents, but also, the time and the bandwidth of the staff that have to fundraise for that and educate the community,” Bent said.

Food-based programming is one of Samaritan House’s most integral services, she added.

“Food insecurity is one of the easiest points of access for clients who are seeking assistance, so we tend to see a majority of our clients start with our food program and continue to utilize that to supplement their income,” Bent said.

Both nonprofit CEOs emphasized that the often-hidden issue of food insecurity often impacts Silicon Valley residents with full-time jobs who are simply unable to afford the extraordinarily high cost of living in the area, where an annual income of $104,000 per year for a family of three is considered low income.

“We’re continuing in trying to get the word out and get people to understand, even in this very affluent community, so many of our neighbors are hurting. Hunger really is a hidden issue,” Bacho said.

Both Second Harvest of Silicon Valley and Samaritan House continue to look for volunteers and donations to support their food-based programming.

Go to samaritanhousesanmateo.org/volunteer to find more information on participating in Samaritan House’s volunteer programs. Go to shfb.org/give-help/volunteer to find more on

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley volunteer programs.