Harvey Relief: Food Shipments From San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The SF-Marin Food Bank is sending shelf-stable food and two veteran staffers to assist the recovery effort underway in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

"There are some really specific foods that the Houston Food Bank has requested," spokeswoman Maria Stokes said Wednesday. "We're sending things like peanut butter, granola bars, bottled water, canned meats like tuna fish and canned vegetables."

"Stuff we call pop-top," Stokes said. "Portable, ready-to-eat foods."

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The food bank already has all the supplies they intend to send palletized and ready to ship, and they're not currently accepting material donations.

"Monetary donations are really the best way for organizations on the ground to access resources and leverage those dollars as needed," Stokes said. "Other items, while well-intentioned, have a certain randomness about
them, so it's much better to provide money."

She referred anyone looking to help to Feeding Texas.

"Right now I've heard they're receiving as many as 120 truck loads of food every day in Houston," Stokes said. "By comparison, we get about six truck loads a day."

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Following a request for additional management support, SF-Marin Food Bank is also deploying Director of Food Sourcing and Allocation Barbara Abbott and Associate Director of Operations Geno Gerloff to Houston.
"Both of them are very seasoned," Stokes said. "They're experts in the field of sourcing and logistics and how to track all of that."

The SF-Marin Food Bank is part of a national network called Feeding America, which is coordinating this aspect of the Hurricane Harvey relief effort.

"At times of natural disaster we all want to support each other," Stokes said. "When the big earthquake hits San Francisco, we're hoping that others will step up."

— Bay City News; Photo by Erich Schlegel/Getty Images News/Getty Images