Message from the CEO

Dear Friends,

This is another one of my “Good News, Bad News” e-newsletter messages.

First, the Good News

The good news is two-fold, and I think it is very good news!

I am excited to inform you that for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen will be serving a congregate meal in a dining room setting on Thanksgiving Day! We will be serving a good ol’ fashioned, traditional Thanksgiving meal to those most in need in our community from 11:00 to 1:30 at St. Francis Cabrini Parish on Thursday, November 23rd. The parish is located at 15333 Woodard Road in San Jose. Our kitchen staff will prepare the meal, and other staff and volunteers will serve it!

So, if you come across someone who does not know where their Thanksgiving meal will come from, or if you know someone facing food insecurity, housed or unhoused, unemployed, underemployed, or employed, no matter their circumstances, spread the word. Let them know they can come to us for a Thanksgiving meal, and more meals as needed throughout the year.

And, by the way, if you are interested in volunteering to help serve meals, either Thanksgiving Day or other days, times, and locations, please visit our website and navigate to the Volunteer page.

More Good News

The other good news is, so far, we have managed to produce and serve a higher number of meals than I thought possible a few months ago. This has enabled us to partially fill the gap left by the elimination of some government-funded food programs. We have scraped, and scrimped, and saved, and scrambled to find ways to make up for government food programs disappearing in order for us to do our best to ensure that those most vulnerable among us in our communities are not left behind and do not go hungry.

Thanks to the generosity of many individuals, foundations, and corporations, and especially because our staff are creative and efficient, we have maintained a higher level of meal production and distribution than otherwise would have been possible.

Now the Bad News

The bad news is, these levels of program services are unsustainable.

When the Federal government officially declared an end to the COVID-19 national emergency, the unintended consequence was an end of funding to many government emergency food programs. This reduced or eliminated access to food for those most at risk in our communities throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. We estimate this has put about 90,000 people at risk of going hungry throughout the year. The most recent statistics reveal that 1 in 4 people in Silicon Valley are still regularly facing food insecurity.

Loaves & Fishes has stepped up to try to fill in the gap caused by reduced government food programs to ensure no one in Silicon Valley goes hungry. We continue providing more meals to those facing food insecurity in Silicon Valley. However, in our endeavor to make up for the reductions in other food programs we are overextended.

Unless we can find more funding, we will be unable to continue this higher level of meal services to fill the gap left by those reductions in government-funded food programs.

Loaves & Fishes will continue to do everything possible to ensure we feed as many people as we can to make up for those reductions, and I will continue striving to find more resources to enable us to maintain this higher level of meal services.

However, we cannot continue to do this without your help! Your generosity has helped us answer the call to feed the most vulnerable of our neighbors in need. As the demand grows, so do our costs, and our need to ask you to continue to generously give so no parent need tell their children there isn’t enough food, no low-income senior struggling to cover all of their costs have to put healthy, nutritious food on the “cut” list, so no one struggling with food insecurity – regardless of their circumstances – have to wonder when or from where their next meal will come.

I am confident I will have some more good news to share with you in my December e-newsletter.

Until then, I wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely and gratefully yours,

David P. Hott
CEO, Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen

(PS – Giving Tuesday is November 28th. I hope you keep us in mind as you consider all your choices for worthy causes and organizations. Would you please consider a contribution to Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen?)