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Health & Fitness

Blog: What's New at the Warehouse

Second Harvest Food Bank goes green and mobile.

There is always so much going on here that it’s hard to keep up! However, we’re really excited to tell you about two recent events that we’re really excited about.

Easy Being Green

As the nations’ second oldest food bank, Second Harvest has long been focused on putting community surpluses to good use, rather than going to waste. The food bank is proud to now be a certified Monterey Bay Area Green Business.

Going green was an easy choice, not just because our children deserve a healthy environment, but as a nonprofit business, we rely on careful stewardship of resources to maximize the service we can offer our low-income clients. With Second Harvest’s green business certification and new facility, we’re creating a healthy community in more ways than one. Our energy conservation and solar array means we can provide an additional 60,000 meals a month to our neighbors in need.

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Second Harvest Food Bank is proud to be a certified green business and we appreciate the support received along the way from volunteers, donors, staff, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County and the Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program.

Produce Mobile

Watsonville residents saw the debut of a former beverage truck transformed into a hunger fighting produce mobile. The new tractor and rig rolled in to greet participants of the Don Bosco Passion For Produce program. With 16 roll-up bays to show off different fresh fruits and vegetables and overhead awnings, the truck acts as a farmer’s market on wheels. The new vehicle means the driver and site volunteers save time setting up and can assist clients as they gather the food that often acts as a family’s lifeline until the first of the month or until employment returns.

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On a recent day, over 225 families turned out for the program, where they received nutritious food they might not otherwise afford while learning about how to cook, eat, and live healthier. After hearing a presentation on protein and healthy fats, participants tasted a tangy citrus dressing to go with a crisp spring salad mix. Making their way around the produce mobile, they received bags that included the salad ingredients along with extra helpings of pears, sweet potatoes, pears, citrus, greens, and mushrooms. Residents were also treated to juice courtesy of Martinelli’s and energy saving light bulbs from PG&E.

The new truck saves lots of unloading time and meant that volunteers had more time to offer nutrition tips or recipe suggestions to residents filling their bags. As she shepherded the crowd through the line, the church’s Sister Silvia Castillo told us the new truck, “keeps (the food distribution) very orderly and helps the line move even faster. We pray for those that bring this food, these blessings to us, for which we are so grateful.”

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