Food Bank distributes holiday meals
3,000 Thanksgiving meal kits were given out in one week
The Yolo Food Bank recently capped off a week of distributing around 3,000 Thanksgiving meal kits to families in need throughout all of Yolo County.
On Saturday morning, in the Yolo County Fair Grounds parking lot, around 900 meal kits valued at $50 were distributed by Food Bank volunteers and employees. Events like this are just a snapshot of what the Food Bank has been doing day in day out, according to Joy Cohan, the director of philanthropic engagement with the Yolo Food Bank.
“Last year, we elevated the distribution of meal kits by about 50%, and that need has not yet diminished,” Cohan said. “Although there are things about the pandemic that have improved, the band-aid that got ripped off the food security needs in the county are still ever-present. We anticipated this not just with the meal kits but with our service throughout the year.”
To be eligible for a meal kit, individuals had to prove residence in Yolo County, pre-register for a meal kit where required and provide proof of address via a driver’s license, state I.D. card, or a bill or mail sent to a Yolo County address. Only one meal kit was provided per household.
This week, most events were either walk-up or drive-through and were on a first-come, firstserve basis, with face masks required at each site.
“We are really grateful to the community,” Cohan said. “I think one of the things to point out that was particularly different this year is the rising costs to put these kits together as well as the supply chain interruptions. We weren’t sure if we were able to have turkeys this year.”
The Woodland distribution site had a drivethrough event and was the seventh event this week that the Yolo Food Bank and partnering organizations provided meal kits and giveaways.
“The preparation has been months in planning, and we have been working with our non-profit partners to distribute these meal kits all over the county,” said Maria Segoviano, marketing communications manager. “These are longtime partners we have been working with, but it’s really about an understanding year to year what that need is. You will see these lines weekly at the major distributions. We rely on our partners to understand what those specific needs are, and
that way, we are able to serve county-wide.”
On Tuesday, Nov. 16, the Food Bank and the Yolo County Children’s Alliance provided kits to Clarksburg. The next day, the Family Action Center of Colusa County helped bring kits to Dunnigan.
Efforts ramped up on Thursday up as Empower Yolo helped with the meal distribution in Knights Landing and Yolo. On Friday, RISE, Inc brought kits to Winters, Esparto, and the surrounding areas of Brooks, Capay, Esparto, Guinda, and Rumsey while the Madison Community Committee Food Closet was in Madison.
Along with Woodland, West Sacramento also had a meal kit distribution on Saturday, at the Sutter Health Park parking lot, along with a coat drive and diaper distribution, helped put on by the Yolo County Children’s Alliance.
On Sunday, the Yolo Food Bank will complete its week-long efforts in the UC Davis Visitor Parking Lot for one last Holiday Meal Kit distribution.
“Our partner non-profits are seeing the elevated need just the same,” Cohan said. “The food security need region-wide is incredible. There was a recent study done that really revealed food security as one of the biggest social services challenges to the community right now.”
After a week like this one, coordinating all the distributions sites and other non-profits ahead of Thanksgiving, one would think the Yolo Food Bank would rest on their laurels ahead of the Christmas holidays, but that is hardly the case.
“It doesn’t stop,” Segoviano said. “Next week, we will be back to our usual distribution.”