Leading our community to ensure that anyone who needs a healthy meal can get one.

Second Harvest and our partner sites are the only grocery stores for the most vulnerable members of our community and one of few networks open as we "shelter in place."

During public health crises like the COVID-19 outbreak, kids and families on the brink of poverty are disproportionately impacted. When schools are closed and hourly wages are scaled back, the service we provide is even more critical. Yet we're facing unprecedented challenges ourselves, with rapid changes to our volunteer workforce and distribution networks.

As our community responds to the COVID-19 outbreak, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley remains committed to our mission knowing that our most vulnerable community members are deeply and disproportionately impacted by public crises such as this. We are in ongoing communication with our partners, staff and volunteers to maintain safe practices that will ensure nutritious food continues to flow into the community.

On Monday, March 16, 2020 food banks were officially named by the California Department of Public Health as an essential service provider. Because of this important inclusion in the CDPH’s guidelines, we expect to remain fully operational so we can continue serving our community.

As the crisis continues, we expect to see an increase in need as community members are furloughed, losing hourly wages and forced to deplete savings while still providing for their family. Food Hotline: 1-800-984-3663

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley

Fighting Hunger in the Community Since 1975 (650) 323-7781 2411 Pulgas Ave., East Palo Alto www.ehpcares.org

EHP Pledge EHP is a special kind of community, a neighborhood of committed individuals and groups. In our neighborhood, people care for one another. We look after each other's welfare. We lift up those who are down. We express confidence in those who are disheartened. We support one another in a host of tangible and intangible ways. We believe in each other and encourage in those around us the self-respect needed to live in dignity. Through the relationships that our neighborhood provides, we can achieve the degree of self-sufficiency and self-worth that we all need to live useful and meaningful lives.  The foundation of the EHP neighborhood is a moral concern for the well-being of those around us. Our core is comprised of a dedicated staff and volunteers who give many hours of service. In this spirit, we welcome all people of goodwill to join in the common cause of providing assistance to people in need. Those of us who give as well as those of us who receive are strengthened and sustained within this community.  Our Mission For many people engaged in the struggle to keep body and soul together, a sudden crisis can prove overwhelming. We believe that appropriate and timely assistance can often prevent a temporary crisis from becoming permanent, thus interrupting what has been called "the cycle of poverty." In any situation, the way forward is one step at a time. Very often, the first step is to meet basic needs, making further steps possible.  Providing for more than material needs, EHP seeks to be a companion to "sharing bread with" those who are experiencing difficult times. We work directly with individuals and their families to help them find the strength and resources they need to face the turmoil and despair that can threaten to overcome them. We offer both a helping hand and a supportive relationship. We seek to keep hope and spirit alive even when hardship seems overwhelming.

Kathryn Han

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley

EHP - Ecumenical Hunger Program