About 28,000 people participated in the 19th annual “Run to Feed the Hungry” for Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Elite runners, average joggers and walkers participated in the 5K and 10K events. Last year, 26,825 people participated on the event’s first rainy day. This year, over 28,000 participants ran on a beautiful Thanksgiving Day. The event raises funds to support six Food Bank programs.

The last few years have been very rough for everyone economically – every day families struggle just to put food on the table. And for many families, that includes a struggle to provide food for their pets also.

PETS IN NEED. As the economy stumbles, humans aren’t the only family members in need. Families are struggling to feed their furry children, too. Titanic’s Pantry exists to help. / Photo courtesy, Titanic’s Pantry

That’s where Sacramento’s pet food bank, Titanic’s Pantry, comes in.

“When you have to make a decision between paying your mortgage, your car payment or buying dog food, that’s a real conundrum,” explained Gina Knepp, acting manager of the City of Sacramento Animal Care Services. “It’s a terrible dilemma for anyone to have to face. If you find yourself in dire straits where you need pet food, come get it from us because we don’t want people to surrender their pets to the local shelters – that’s the last thing we want to do.”

The pantry is seeing an increase in need, just as local food banks for humans are seeing an uptick – at this time of year, especially. Every neighborhood in the region is affected.

Penny Cistaro, now chief operations officer for the Sacramento SPCA, started Titanic’s Pantry in November 2009. She got the idea for the pantry while in Washington State.

“When I came back to California, there wasn’t a (pet) food bank in the region, and having had a (pet) food bank up in Washington State at the shelter I had worked at and seeing the benefits there, I wanted to start one here,” Cistaro said.

A team effort

Now about two years later, Titanic’s Pantry is a collaborative effort of the City of Sacramento Animal Care Services, Sacramento County Animal Care and Regulation, the Sacramento Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), and Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary.

According to Knepp, those in need of pet food can visit the city, county, or SPCA shelter once a month for a donation.

The City’s shelter has the biggest client base – more than 2,000 people come there each month and they distribute at least 3,000 pounds of food a week. Additionally, Titanic’s Pantry provides a number of other supplies that people may need for their animals; everything from cat litter and litter boxes to dog biscuits, leashes, collars, beds and even toys.

Who is eligible?

So who is eligible to receive assistance from Titanic’s Pantry?

Anyone who needs it, according to Knepp. There is no application to fill out or proof of eligibility.

“If they’re not registered with us, the first time they come in they show us a picture ID and we’ll put them in our computer system to keep track of how many people we’re helping,” Knepp explained. “Then once a month they can come back if they need to and get food from us. We have some people that come back several times. And then we have some people that come back and bring us a bag of food to thank us because we helped them when they were in trouble.”

Bags of food needed

And it’s those bags of pet food coming in to Titanic’s Pantry that are so desperately needed right now.

“One of the biggest challenges is to keep the shelves constantly stocked because you rely on donations,” said Shari Lowen, senior services coordinator for the Sacramento SPCA and volunteer that helped Cistaro start Titanic’s Pantry. “You may get a huge truckload of donated food and that might last a few weeks and then somebody comes in and there’s absolutely nothing to give them.”

Donations of pet food – dry cat and dog food – are how the community can help support the Pantry, Cistaro said.

“Buy a 20, 30, or 40 pound bag of food and bring it to the SPCA or take it to the county or the city (shelters) – whichever shelter is closest or whichever one is closest to your heart,” Cistaro said. “Just bring in food – even a 10-pound, 5-pound bag of dry food. It’s easy to transport, it lasts, that’s what will help.”

Participate in a pet food drive

According to Knepp, donations can be made on-site to the city, county, SPCA, or Happy Tails. She added that the community can pitch in to help by setting up pet food drives for the Pantry in their neighborhood.

EVERY BIT HELPS. Donations of bags of pet food – in 5, 10, 20, even 50 pound bags – can help to make a difference in the life of a family in your neighborhood. Grateful families often return months later with a donation of pet food…happy to return the favor for help during a “rough patch.” / Photo courtesy, Titanic’s Pantry

For example, Knepp held a drive in Hollywood Park, raising 800 pounds of food for the Pantry. She then passed it on to Curtis Park – which brought in over 3,000 pounds of food donations – and now is trying to get Land Park “to take up the gauntlet.”

Knepp said a pet food drive can also be a great project for groups, such as high schools.

Help pets by volunteering

Titanic’s Pantry is also always in need of volunteers to help with picking up donations of pet food. For example, a Save Mart store in Vacaville currently supplies the Pantry with donations of food from broken bags, which Knepp says can sometimes add up to about 7,000 pounds of dry kibble for the Pantry. Volunteers are needed to help bag the loose kibble for distribution using empty sand bags Knepp obtained from the Department of Transportation.

“Our volunteers will come in and fill the sand bags up with dog food and we tie the tops just like sand, but it’s dog food, and (we) give that out,” she explained.

Keeping Titanic’s Pantry going will continue to help enable people to keep their animals, Cistaro said.

“Animals play a powerful role in someone’s life,” she said. “People lose so much, the last thing they should lose is a family member and an animal is a family member.”

For more information on Titanic’s Pantry, including volunteer and donation information, visit www.sacpetfoodbank.org.

Canned goods were gathered by PACT (Pocket Area Churches Together) on May 15 to supply local food closets that serve South Sacramento residents who are in need during these tough times. Future projects to help neighbors in need are planned. / Photo iStockphoto

A new emerging ecumenical organization calling itself Pocket Area Churches Together (PACT) made quite a dent on hunger on Sunday, May 15. Consisting of members of Faith Presbyterian, Riverside Wesleyan, and St. Anthony Catholic churches, the fledgling organization brought together more than 85 volunteers to go door-to-door asking residents for canned goods to feed the hungry.

“Hunger never takes a day off,” said Frank Allen to the volunteers as they formed teams to go door to door. “Thousands of needy families in South Sacramento are turning to the Food Locker operated by the South Sacramento Interfaith Partnership for food. A year ago the Locker was providing needed nutrition for 3,000 families per month. Now that number has climbed to nearly 6,000 families. What this means is that the Food Locker needs a lot more canned goods to meet the increasing needs.”

Most of the food collected on Sunday went to the South Sacramento Interfaith Partnership (SSIP).

The volunteers formed teams of five to four walkers and one driver. They were assigned to go to about 100 Pocket area homes to share what the churches are doing and to offer people an opportunity to make a donation. The results were phenomenal. According to the director of the food locker, more than 1,600 pounds of food worth an estimated $3,000 was delivered on Monday morning and was already being used to feed hungry families.

What’s more, the volunteers from three Pocket area churches were thrilled with the results.

“Not only did we collect a lot of food for needy families, we also had a wonderful opportunity to meet and work with members of our neighboring congregations,” said John Stockton, a leader from Riverside Wesleyan. “God’s spirit was definitely with us as we prayed together, worked together and then celebrated by sharing a meal together. We look forward to doing more projects together in the near future.”

“The pastors of these churches have been meeting together for years,” said Jeff Chapman, pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church. “A few months ago, we decided it was time to turn our words and good intentions into joint action. PACT and this effort to feed the hungry was a first, excellent step.”

“We are gathering together as Christian communities of faith for the greater good of our whole community,” added Mike Higley, pastor of Riverside Wesleyan. “We believe we can do a lot more good together than separately. We’ve made a ‘pact’ to do just that.”

Thanksgiving Day is a joyful time as friends and families gather to count their blessings and bask in the warmth of companionship and comfort food.

However, recent years have seen an upswing in families who must economize on the traditional feast, due to the economic downturn. Many working families – who are typically givers in the community – are either under- or unemployed. They must economize on every meal, just to get by.

According to the most recent report released by the USDA (“Household Food Security in the United States”), 85 percent of American households were “food secure throughout the entire year, meaning that they had access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The remaining households (14.6 percent) were food insecure at least some time during the year.”

That’s one out of every seven families. Of those families in need, nearly six percent had tightened the belt – literally. One or more household members reduced their food intake and “eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food.”

Families, friends and entire neighborhoods will run or walk on Thanksgiving morning at the Run to Feed the Hungry. / Photo courtesy of Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services

Fortunately, it is possible to do something positive that benefits everyone – both the giver and the receiver – this holiday season.

“The Run to Feed the Hungry is 25 percent of our budget,” said Kelly Siefkin, communication and development director at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. “So this event is significant.”

The 17th annual Run to Feed the Hungry will be held, rain or shine, on Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 25. The race starts just west of the entrance to the Sacramento State campus and runs through East Sacramento. Registration is available online at www.RuntoFeedtheHungry.com. Fees are $35 for adults and $20 for children ages 15 and under. Timed runners pay $5 more. Race day registration is 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Timed 10K runners start at 8:45 a.m. Timed 5K runners start at 9:05 a.m., and all untimed 5K fun run/walkers will follow behind the 5K start.

Timed runners will start the Run to Feed the Hungry. Walkers will follow behind the 5K starting line. / Photo courtesy of Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services

The Run to Feed the Hungry is Sacramento’s largest and most popular Thanksgiving Day event. Families and friends gather to run the 10K portion of the race, or to walk the 5K section. The atmosphere is happy, festive and hopeful.

Participants agree: a little exercise is good for the body before enjoying a Thanksgiving meal…which will taste even better when one knows that the morning’s activities went to help neighbors in need.

susan@valcomnews.com

Golden 1 senior vice presidents Scott Ingram, Tammy Davis and Bill Thorla present River City Food Bank Executive Director Eileen Thomas with a $5,000 check to help with the fire restoration project.

The Golden 1 Credit Union announced that it has opened an account to allow members of the community to donate much-needed funds to River City Food Bank, following the devastating fire that damaged both the organization’s building and its stockpile of food.

“We are grateful the River City Food Bank is there year-round for the community, providing food for those in need,” said Donna Bland, interim president and CEO. “We have made it a priority to help this organization get back on its feet as quickly as possible and part of that is providing the community with an easy way to make monetary contributions.”

Eileen Thomas, executive director of the River City Food Bank, said, “We thank Golden 1 and its employees for their support. Efforts such as these will help us get back on our feet much quicker.”

Establishing an account for relief efforts is the latest step Golden 1 has made to help the River City Food Bank recover from the fire that occurred on Oct. 22. Other measures include the donation of $5,000 cash and an employee canned food drive spanning Sacramento that has already resulted in great response.

“We have had an outpouring from employees inquiring how they can help,” continued Bland. “It is always inspiring to see the sense of civic duty present in our staff.”

Donations to the River City Food Bank Fire Fund account will be accepted at all Golden 1 branches.

The Golden 1 Credit Union is California’s leading credit union, with more than 80 offices, $7 billion in assets and 680,000 members.

Donna Bland, Golden 1 interim president & CEO / Photo courtesy of Golden 1

SACRAMENTO – The Golden 1 Credit Union announced today that they will present River City Food Bank in midtown Sacramento with a check for $5,000, following the devastating fire that damaged both the organization’s building and its stockpile of food.

“Golden 1 has been a longtime supporter of organizations in the communities we serve,” said Donna Bland, interim president and CEO. “We are saddened by this turn of events and decided to take immediate action.”

In addition to this donation of cash, Golden 1 employees plan to show their support by contributing to a canned food drive at all of Golden 1’s Sacramento-area offices and its Operations Center.

“With the holidays just around the corner, we know the food bank is going to face increased demand,” added Bland. “Golden 1 is committed to helping River City Food Bank meet that demand and challenges all other area businesses to help in this time of great need.”

The Golden 1 Credit Union is California’s leading credit union, with more than 80 offices, $7 billion in assets and 680,000 members.