January 2026 Recap

Dear Friends of the Food Bank,

As we head into the new year, we are eternally thankful for the kindness and generosity of members of East Santa Cruz County when supporting those with food insecurity. Due to the outpouring of support these past few months, as we navigated the uncertainty of a serious food crisis, the food bank has been able to step up and sustain our mission of providing food for our community.

On January 10, 2026 at our regular food distribution, we delivered 80 enhanced food bags that contained more food than we had been offering in the past. We are currently assessing our food offerings in the context of our clients’ preferences with an eye to including more in-demand food.

We are ramping up our partnering efforts with other not-for-profit agencies in the area to support their efforts to feed their clients and the community.

We continue to see an increase in people visiting our every-Monday vegetable distributions outside the Patagonia Senior Center. The supply of vegetables from Borderlands Produce Rescue has been consistent with very good quality as we head into the heart of the vegetable harvest season in Mexico. We invite everyone in the community to visit our distribution and take home vegetables that otherwise might be wasted. Our veggie distribution motto is: Take what you need, Give what you can.

Recently we upgraded our office space with a grant from the American Heart Association that allowed us to purchase an additional freezer as well as a conference table that replaces our old plastic folding tables. We are grateful for their generosity and support of our mission.

Jim