March 17, 2023
The Honorable Anna Eshoo
272 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Representative Eshoo,
We are writing to express our support of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley’s funding request to complete their new facility in the Alviso neighborhood of San Jose, California.
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is the hub of the charitable food distribution system in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in California and a strong partner in reducing food insecurity among low-income residents.
As the pandemic pushed people deeper into poverty and families lost jobs and savings, the need for Second Harvest’s services doubled in a matter of weeks. Today, three years since the pandemic began, 460,000 people every month continue to rely on Second Harvest for grocery assistance, up from 240,000 people a month pre-pandemic.
It is expected that need for food assistance will once again increase with the end of the SNAP Emergency Allotments in February 2023. Across San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, more than 93,000 households will lose approximately $16 Million in monthly food benefits, while at the same time, food and fuel costs are significantly higher than before.
To meet community needs, Second Harvest partners with a network of 400 community partners at 900 sites to distribute food to the community. In FY22, they distributed 11 million pounds of food every month. The majority of groceries distributed in their two Counties come from Second Harvest – and no partner or client is ever charged. To ensure our community is connected to the full nutritional safety net, they also assist clients with applying for CalFresh benefits and make referrals for WIC and Senior Nutrition Programs.
Second Harvest provides groceries through large drive-thrus, client-choice farmer’s markets, and home delivery for elderly and disabled. Nearly 50% of the food distributed is fresh produce. Eggs, milk, chicken, rice, and beans are other staples that are typically included. Second Harvest also provides food to partners who prepare hot meals for homeless, low-income or in residential settings.
Additionally, Second Harvest is the leading organization conducting food rescue in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, recovering more than 17 million pounds of food from landfill last year.
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley’s current facilities were not built to handle today’s level of need. Second Harvest is currently having to rent a fourth warehouse and is trying to Attachment 4
manage sustainable food provision across the four locations– the inefficiencies are costly and use resources that could be better used in other areas.
This funding request will support building a new facility in the Alviso neighborhood of San Jose. This new facility doubles cold storage capacity, increases volunteer workspace, and provides sufficient space to manage transportation and storage efficiently. This facility will provide the infrastructure needed to meet demand for the next 30-50 years.
We urge you to support funding of Second Harvest’s infrastructure to serve our entire community.
Sincerely,
Assemblymember Diane Papan, District 21
A
ssemblymember Evan Low, District 26
Senator Josh Becker, Senate District 13
Warren Slocum, Supervisor District Four
David Canepa, Supervisor District Five
County Executive Office, County of San Mateo
Office of Education, County of San Mateo
Otto Lee, Supervisor District Three
Social Services Agency, County of Santa Clara
Attachment 4
Councilmember David Cohen, District 4
Councilmember Peter Ortiz, District 5
Councilmember Dev Davis, District 6
Councilmember Pam Foley, District 9
Larry Klein, Mayor
Councilmember Alysa Cisneros, District 2
Attachment 4
Attachment 4
March 17, 2023
The Honorable Ro Khanna
306 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Khanna,
We are writing to express our support of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley’s funding request to complete their new facility in the Alviso neighborhood of San Jose, California.
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is the hub of the charitable food distribution system in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in California and a strong partner in reducing food insecurity among low-income residents.
As the pandemic pushed people deeper into poverty and families lost jobs and savings, the need for Second Harvest’s services doubled in a matter of weeks. Today, three years since the pandemic began, 460,000 people every month continue to rely on Second Harvest for grocery assistance, up from 240,000 people a month pre-pandemic.
It is expected that need for food assistance will once again increase with the end of the SNAP Emergency Allotments in February 2023. Across San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, more than 93,000 households will lose approximately $16 Million in monthly food benefits, while at the same time, food and fuel costs are significantly higher than before.
To meet community needs, Second Harvest partners with a network of 400 community partners at 900 sites to distribute food to the community. In FY22, they distributed 11 million pounds of food every month. The majority of groceries distributed in their two Counties come from Second Harvest – and no partner or client is ever charged. To ensure our community is connected to the full nutritional safety net, they also assist clients with applying for CalFresh benefits and make referrals for WIC and Senior Nutrition Programs.
Second Harvest provides groceries through large drive-thrus, client-choice farmer’s markets, and home delivery for elderly and disabled. Nearly 50% of the food distributed is fresh produce. Eggs, milk, chicken, rice, and beans are other staples that are typically included. Second Harvest also provides food to partners who prepare hot meals for homeless, low-income or in residential settings.
Additionally, Second Harvest is the leading organization conducting food rescue in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, recovering more than 17 million pounds of food from landfill last year.
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley’s current facilities were not built to handle today’s level of need. Second Harvest is currently having to rent a fourth warehouse and is trying to Attachment 4
manage sustainable food provision across the four locations– the inefficiencies are costly and use resources that could be better used in other areas.
This funding request will support building a new facility in the Alviso neighborhood of San Jose. This new facility doubles cold storage capacity, increases volunteer workspace, and provides sufficient space to manage transportation and storage efficiently. This facility will provide the infrastructure needed to meet demand for the next 30-50 years.
We urge you to support funding of Second Harvest’s infrastructure to serve our entire community.
Sincerely,
Assemblymember Diane Papan, District 21
A
ssemblymember Evan Low, District 26
Senator Josh Becker, Senate District 13
Warren Slocum, Supervisor District Four
David Canepa, Supervisor District Five
County Executive Office, County of San Mateo
Office of Education, County of San Mateo
Otto Lee, Supervisor District Three
Social Services Agency, County of Santa Clara
Attachment 4
Councilmember David Cohen, District 4
Councilmember Peter Ortiz, District 5
Councilmember Dev Davis, District 6
Councilmember Pam Foley, District 9
Larry Klein, Mayor
Councilmember Alysa Cisneros, District 2
Attachment 4
Attachment 4
March 17, 2023
The Honorable Zoe Lofgren
1401 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Lofgren,
We are writing to express our support of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley’s funding request to complete their new facility in the Alviso neighborhood of San Jose, California.
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is the hub of the charitable food distribution system in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in California and a strong partner in reducing food insecurity among low-income residents.
As the pandemic pushed people deeper into poverty and families lost jobs and savings, the need for Second Harvest’s services doubled in a matter of weeks. Today, three years since the pandemic began, 460,000 people every month continue to rely on Second Harvest for grocery assistance, up from 240,000 people a month pre-pandemic.
It is expected that need for food assistance will once again increase with the end of the SNAP Emergency Allotments in February 2023. Across San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, more than 93,000 households will lose approximately $16 Million in monthly food benefits, while at the same time, food and fuel costs are significantly higher than before.
To meet community needs, Second Harvest partners with a network of 400 community partners at 900 sites to distribute food to the community. In FY22, they distributed 11 million pounds of food every month. The majority of groceries distributed in their two Counties come from Second Harvest – and no partner or client is ever charged. To ensure our community is connected to the full nutritional safety net, they also assist clients with applying for CalFresh benefits and make referrals for WIC and Senior Nutrition Programs.
Second Harvest provides groceries through large drive-thrus, client-choice farmer’s markets, and home delivery for elderly and disabled. Nearly 50% of the food distributed is fresh produce. Eggs, milk, chicken, rice, and beans are other staples that are typically included. Second Harvest also provides food to partners who prepare hot meals for homeless, low-income or in residential settings.
Additionally, Second Harvest is the leading organization conducting food rescue in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, recovering more than 17 million pounds of food from landfill last year.
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley’s current facilities were not built to handle today’s level of need. Second Harvest is currently having to rent a fourth warehouse and is trying to Attachment 4
manage sustainable food provision across the four locations– the inefficiencies are costly and use resources that could be better used in other areas.
This funding request will support building a new facility in the Alviso neighborhood of San Jose. This new facility doubles cold storage capacity, increases volunteer workspace, and provides sufficient space to manage transportation and storage efficiently. This facility will provide the infrastructure needed to meet demand for the next 30-50 years.
We urge you to support funding of Second Harvest’s infrastructure to serve our entire community.
Sincerely,
Assemblymember Diane Papan, District 21
A
ssemblymember Evan Low, District 26
Senator Josh Becker, Senate District 13
Warren Slocum, Supervisor District Four
David Canepa, Supervisor District Five
County Executive Office, County of San Mateo
Office of Education, County of San Mateo
Otto Lee, Supervisor District Three
Social Services Agency, County of Santa Clara
Attachment 4
Councilmember David Cohen, District 4
Councilmember Peter Ortiz, District 5
Councilmember Dev Davis, District 6
Councilmember Pam Foley, District 9
Larry Klein, Mayor
Councilmember Alysa Cisneros, District 2
Attachment 4
Attachment 4