Sacramento-area food banks warn of rising need, launch $300K donation drive
As demand for hunger relief remained at or near record levels across the Sacramento region, food bank leaders from five counties issued an urgent appeal Thursday for donations to a matching gift drive they say is critical to preventing thousands of families from going without food.
The local United Way and Sierra Health Foundation are committing up to $300,000 to double the impact of community donations made through the Match for Meals fundraising campaign. Donations can be made at matchformeals.org or text Match4Meals to 41444 to donate.
“Right now, we are facing a disaster ... right in our own backyard,” said Dawnté Early, CEO of United Way California Capital Region. “There may not be cameras capturing it, but it’s happening in kitchens across our region. Families, hardworking families, are struggling to put food on the table.”
Blake Young, executive director of Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, said demand began climbing during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to rise. He, Early and others spoke at a news conference at the organization’s Bell Avenue headquarters in North Sacramento.
“Prior to the pandemic, we were providing food to 150,000 people per month,” Young said. “We’re at over 370,000 and climbing, so this sort of activity, this wonderful event that we’re all surrounded by, is going to go a long way to helping us.”
Beth Stanton, director of the Interfaith Food Bank of Amador County, said that although her county has a population under 40,000, the need remained high. Her six-person staff fed 100 to 110 families a day in October as a federal budget stalemate threatened CalFresh disbursements.
It was heartwarming, she said, to see how residents and businesses stepped up to care for their neighbors.
“We got through it,” Stanton said, “but all we could think about was: What if this demand doesn’t end? What if we have to try to maintain these numbers?”
Although Congress eventually reached a deal, Stanton said the Interfaith Food Bank continued to serve 70 to 80 families daily. A household can only visit twice a month for a box, and seniors up to three times monthly, so the need spans many families, she said.
Stanton said she was glad to learn that this matching gift campaign will continue through Jan. 31, 2026, because hunger doesn’t end with the holidays. People continue to be hungry all through the year, she said.
Joining Stanton, Young and Early at the news conference were Dave Martinez of Feeding the Foothills, which serves Placer, El Dorado and Nevada counties; Mackenzie Gold of El Dorado County Food Bank; Karen Baker of the Yolo Food Bank; and Chet Hewitt, CEO of the Sierra Health Foundation.
California produces nearly half of the nation’s fruits and vegetables, yet more than one in five state residents — about 8.8 million people — struggle with food insecurity, according to the California Association of Food Banks. Food insecurity is defined as limited or uncertain access to enough food to live a healthy, active life.
There are a few reasons why Hewitt and Early organized a matching gift campaign rather than a can drive:
Monetary donations go further because food banks can purchase items at far lower costs than consumers. For every dollar donated to the Sacramento Food Bank, Young said, the organization can provide three meals.
During can drives, people also often empty their pantries of cans they have not used, and many of them bear expired dates. Stanton said she has a can of blueberry compote in her office that expired back in 1976, but it was donated in the last nine years.
Food bank rules prohibit distributing expired goods, requiring staff and volunteers to sort through donations and discard outdated cans.
At matchformeals.org, Hewitt said, donors can specify if they want their donations to benefit all the counties or just one. These food banks supply hundreds of smaller food distribution sites in their counties, including those on college campuses.
Food bank leaders said rising food and housing costs, wildfire impacts and high home insurance premiums, especially in rural areas, have pushed many families who never needed help before into crisis. People are choosing between food, rent, gas and medicine, they said.
The Trump administration also has instituted new work requirements and eligibility restrictions that will make it harder for many people to qualify for SNAP benefits, the program known as CalFresh in California, Hewitt said, so that will place greater demand on food banks.
The good thing, Hewitt said, is that this is problem that food banks can solve efficiently — if they have the funding to do so. There are some societal problems that are challenging to resolve, he said, but this is one that can be resolved.
“I want to challenge every business, every community leader and every neighbor,” Early said. “Please step up. Because when families are hungry, that’s our disaster.”
