Proclamation
Whereas, after eight years as Executive Director of the Alameda Food Bank, and the longest tenured Executive Director in the Food Bank’s 46- year history, Cindy Houts is retiring on August 4, 2023; and
Whereas, prior to joining the Alameda Food Bank, Cindy was Executive Director of Alameda County Meals on Wheels for seven years where she grew their annual budget by 60% through successful grant writing and fundraising campaigns; and
Whereas, Cindy’s fearless, determined leadership of the Alameda Food Bank was on full display when the COVID -19 pandemic struck in 2020 and the Food Bank’s clientele grew ten -fold, to 1800 clients a week. Almost overnight, Cindy helped transition the Food Bank to a new location at Alameda Point where volunteers could provide contactless delivery by placing food boxes in car trunks – even when the line grew to over 900 cars – thus ensuring everyone received the food they needed; and
Whereas, Cindy brought a passion for food security and innovative leadership to the Alameda Food Bank, including introducing grocery store-style shopping for Food Bank clients just 15 months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, in a setting that resembles a Trader Joe’s, more than 1,000 families a week select their groceries at the Food Bank’s Island Community Market at Alameda Point . By providing grocery carts and letting clients choose the food they want and need, rather than receiving boxes of preselected items, Cindy helped bring dignity to the client experience while dramatically eliminating food waste; and
Whereas, to achieve her main goal of providing healthy food, Cindy works constantly with suppliers to provide more fresh produce, lean protein, and health y grains to the Food Bank. Cindy’s secondary goal is to help Food Bank clients save money on their monthly grocery bills s o families can pay their rent, fix their car, pay an unexpected medical bill, or afford soccer equipment so their kids can play soccer, and
Whereas, during her tenure , Cindy collaborated with numerous organizations across the island, initiating mobile pantries at City of Alameda Housing Authority properties, and providing food for Dine and Connect, the Warming Shelter, Village of Love , and Dignity Villa ge – all programs that serve Alameda’s unsheltered residents – as well as Corsair Flats and the Alameda Unified School District; and
Whereas, Cindy’s service to the Alameda Food Bank is illustrated by this quote from Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Why should there be hunger and deprivation in any land, in any city, at any table, when man has the resources and the scientific know-how to provide all mankind with the basic necessities of life? There is no deficit in human resources; the deficit is in human will;” and
Whereas, for the past eight years, Cindy Houts demonstrated that will, serving the most vulnerable members of our community and, through her service, leaving the City of Alameda a stronger, healthier community
.
Now, therefore be it resolved, that I, Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, Mayor of the City of Alameda, on behalf of the Alameda City Council, do hereby commend and thank Cindy Houts for her extraordinary service as Executive Director of the Alameda Food Bank these past eight years, and wish her all the best during her impending retirement.
Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft
Mayor