El Dorado County_Foothills_Style Magazine - November 2018

cause & effect
Raley’s Food
For Families
Taking a Bite Out of Hunger
by LINDA HOLDERNESS // photos by DANTE FONTANA
You’ve likely seen the small
collection boxes at the
cash registers at Raley’s,
Bel Air, and Food Source
checkout stands that say:
Donate to Raley’s Food For Families.
Have you wondered what happens to the
money given (via cash or card) in this nopressure
appeal for help? A lot, as it turns
out.
Raley’s founded the nonprofit Raley’s
Food For Families 32 years ago to help
feed people designated as “food insecure,”
meaning they don’t have access to enough
food for healthy living. The nonprofit’s
mission is “to end hunger locally by
providing fresh, healthy food to those who
need it most.”
Initially a canned food drive, Raley’s
Food For Families now provides literally
millions of pounds of nutritious food each
year to hundreds of thousands of hungry
families in Raley’s service areas—from
Salinas, Yreka, and Northern Nevada,
to El Dorado County, Placer County, and
beyond. The need is staggering: As of 2015,
in Sacramento County alone, more than
240,000 people did not have enough to eat.
The specter of hunger is especially
acute during the holiday season, when food
becomes a focus of celebration. During the
last two months of the year—beginning
November 4 this year—the organization
holds their annual Holiday Bag Drive
marked by displays of nutritious groceries
at checkout stands. For a $10 donation,
supplemented by Raley’s, a family will
receive a bag of food valued at $30 and
enough for 20 meals from such items as
fresh fruit and vegetables, milk, canned
tuna and green beans, diced tomatoes,
pasta sauce, whole-grain
pasta, peanut butter, Raisin
Bran, and applesauce. “We’re
very particular about the
products we put into the
bags,” says Becca Whitman,
the program’s executive
director and the community
relations manager for
Raley’s. “We focus on
nutrition and health.” No
turkeys? Not any longer,
because other sources offer
them. These bag donations
20 styleedc.com // NOVEMBER 2018 // /styleedc /stylemediagroup /stylemediagroup /stylemagedcf