Yolo Food Bank's Collaborative Impact Minimizes Food Insecurity

Karen Baker: [00:00:00] When you sit there and you think about, in this case, 9. 7 million pounds of food that we collect on an annual basis that would have gone to the landfill, and instead, we are feeding 30, 000 households a month with the power of the Yolo County community. You know, with those 1900 volunteers and these program models and the supporters, it's, it's really remarkable.

We, we actually can address food insecurity.

Jeff Holden: I'm Jeff Holden. Welcome to the nonprofit podcast network. Our purpose and passion is to highlight a nonprofit organization in each weekly episode, giving that organization an opportunity to tell their story. In their words, to better inform and educate the [00:01:00] respective communities they serve, as well as provide one more tool for them to share their message to constituents and donors.

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I may even play your message in an upcoming episode. I look forward to more engagement with you as we continue to grow and better serve our nonprofit community. Thanks. I find what I'm about to share with you so frustrating, even though it's not the first time I've uttered the words on one of our episodes.

We've heard about food insecurity over the past year from some of our other guests representing their non profits. We've heard the almost incomprehensible numbers of families that use our local food banks. We've even heard distinctions on how those organizations working in the space of food distribution can all look so different, so [00:03:00] unique.

But back to that number of those using our food bank services. It continues to astound me. And in this case, it's one in three households. One in three households in Yolo County that use the Yolo Food Bank are featured organization this episode. I have the great privilege of speaking with Karen Baker, Executive Director of the organization.

Not only is she a powerhouse when it comes to her role in Yolo County, but her resume, if you will, Demonstrates her ability to get things done. She's worked in various state positions including work with Governors Schwarzenegger, Brown, and Newsome. She's led multiple programs for the state and most recently was a program architect for a COVID education program for vulnerable populations.

Needless to say, things happen when Karen's involved. You may be wondering, how on earth can there be a food insecurity concern in the middle of some of the richest farmland and growing regions in our state? Well, that's what we'll be discussing, as well as [00:04:00] how that issue is being successfully dealt with and what it's going to take to continue to serve the needs of those in Yolo County.

Through the services. The Yolo County Food Bank provides. Karen Baker, welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. 

Karen Baker: Jeff, you are the best. Thank you so much for having me. This is great. 

Jeff Holden: I don't know about the best, but I am really happy to have you here. You know, I've had several iterations of our local food banks on that program over the past year, and I'm always amazed at the novelty and the uniqueness of each of the organizations.

I don't think we can stress enough. The absolute necessity of the food banks in the community, but in the various areas and geographies of the community. So give us a high level overview of the Yolo Food Bank. 

Karen Baker: Yeah, so first of all, thank you so much for having me on the program. Um, Yolo Food Bank was started in 1970 by a UC Davis student who decided to set up a gleaning program, picking up, you know, Those fruits and vegetables [00:05:00] from our farms that could then be provided to those that are food insecure.

And so it was established in 1970 and here we are and it just keeps growing and growing and we're now serving over 30, 000 households on an annual basis. 

Jeff Holden: It's amazing. 54 years ago. Yeah. And recognizing the need for food insecurity and doing something about it. We keep thinking we're going to be ending food insecurity, and in fact, it's actually growing.

Karen Baker: What, yeah, what's really surprising to most people is they certainly became more aware of food insecurity during COVID, and yet our numbers are much higher than during COVID. Right. So economic challenging times obviously caused that that uptick. You also had during COVID a lot of people kind of became more aware of their local food bank.

And instead of seeing it just as an emergency kind of source of food really [00:06:00] became a little less shameful, which is good. We don't want people to feel shame. We're, we're here to serve the community. And started going to that food bank to really use it to augment what they need. These are working families, in most cases, that are accessing this food.

Jeff Holden: And we brought this up in many of the other discussions, food insecurity isn't something you notice. You don't see it as homelessness, you don't see it as somebody without a vehicle, you don't even see it as somebody Without an apartment or a home, but they may not have any food. That's correct.

Everything else looks okay. 

Karen Baker: It could be, it could be the college student that's eating Top Ramen for every meal. Right. It could be, you know, the family members that skip a meal or several meals a day so that their kids can eat. It can be, you know, the working father who doesn't have lunch, you know, so it's.

It's all kinds of scenarios, a senior that doesn't eat much on weekends, you know, so [00:07:00] there's so many different models that we see of how people struggle with this issue. 

Jeff Holden: And the senior one is the one that really, really pains me because in some cases we're hearing, you know, medicine or food. That's right.

And obviously the medicine is life saving, but food is life sustaining. That's right. You can't not have both. 

Karen Baker: You can't, I mean, you can't learn without food, you can't go to work without food, everything is dependent on the fact that you have, you know, that nutrition going in, into your body. Nutrients, I should say, going into your body so that you can really, you know, function.

And that's what makes, you know, supporting food banks wherever you are so important, so vitally important. 

Jeff Holden: Tell us a little bit about who it is you serve today. What does the community look like that the food bank serves? 

Karen Baker: Well, it's interesting. It's, it's really diverse in Yolo County. You've got everything from college students from Woodland Community [00:08:00] College and Sac City College and UC Davis to refugees and immigrants that live in predominantly West Sacramento, also in Davis.

You've got farm workers who are working throughout the ag industry and the packing industry throughout, you know, the county. And you're looking at both the Latino community, you're looking at the Punjabi community, a lot of whom come into the packing plants, the tomato packing plants in the summer.

You've got families of all types and stripes that are accessing this and seniors. And you definitely have, you know, the unhoused that are tapping it as well. 

Jeff Holden: We're going to get to the way you serve the community in just a second, but you also happen to have the benefit of all this agriculture right in your backyard.

Yeah. And something we were talking about just a few minutes before we started was that the food that comes [00:09:00] to the food banks, geographically, is supposed to come from that county. 

Karen Baker: Correct. 

Jeff Holden: So in Yolo County We are lucky. Versus El Dorado County or even Sacramento, they don't have the same access to that food.

Karen Baker: Well, we sometimes say of Sacramento that it's the farm to fork capital. I would say it's the fork capital. And that the farm part often comes from Yolo County and other surrounding counties. And I, and I say that with so much respect and appreciation for our farmers. We have probably over 700, 800 farmers in Yolo County alone that are producing products.

And so if you're food insecure in Yolo County, You know, you're having an amazing Jim Durst tomato, an organically grown tomato that is also served at some of the finest restaurants, right? So it's, it's kind of interesting that way, right? But the challenge that we face is that people need both shelf stable food, [00:10:00] right?

So that rice, those cans of beans. other items, tomato sauce, and then they also need their fresh produce, their dairy, their meat, whatever it is that, you know, they comprise their diet of, you need all of that at your disposal. And depending on what county you're operating in, you have either a lot of access to that or less so.

Luckily in Yolo, lots of great rice growers. 

Jeff Holden: You've got all the rice, you've got all the vegetables, you've got produce, you have so much. 

Karen Baker: It's beautiful. It's, it's weird. And we have such a generous farm community. I mean, we are really taken care of by, by that community. They've embraced the food bank and they're, they're great supporters.

So that's, that's a, a big asset. 

Jeff Holden: And you, you also mentioned 30, 000 households. A month? A month. A 

Karen Baker: month. Out of 77, 000 households. A third. In the federal county. A third. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. A third of the households in the, in the greater population of [00:11:00] Yolo County are using 

Karen Baker: our food insecure. The Yolo Food Bank. And are tapping our services, which is, is truly remarkable.

You know, when you think about that both ways, correct, and a lot of people don't realize out of the 58 counties throughout California, all 58 counties, Yolo County, according to PPIC, the Public Policy Institute of California is 58 out of 58. It is the most. Food Insecure County out of all of them. And so what they do at PPIC is they adjust for things, both pros and cons.

Do you have, you know, everything? Are you a food desert? Are you, have access to certain housing programs? Both the pro and the con that can change your income. But we're 58 out of 58. That's why you see that really alarming number. You know, and why we are in a process of trying to feed one out of every three.

Right. Households, yeah. And 

Jeff Holden: the And that's households, it's not People. It's the actual household, which is multiples of people, and in [00:12:00] some cases, because of the type of population you serve, could be many in a household. It 

Karen Baker: definitely is. On average, we usually tabulate that as three people to a household, because sometimes you might have a senior by themselves, and in another household, you could have 10, right?

So that's, that's statistically what we've been told to do is just basically assume it's three per household. And you know the irony in this? Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Is you're sitting In the richest agricultural area of the Central Valley, short of going down to Salinas, which is, you know, more on the coastal side, and in the highest food insecurity.

Oh. The highest. It's amazing. Right? It is absolutely amazing. 

Karen Baker: Yes. And, you know, we did a recent food access survey that told us of our entire population, 52 percent of our ag workers are experiencing food insecurity. So the very people that are picking our food, canning our food, packaging our food, are the very people that are food insecure, which is [00:13:00] just like unacceptable to me.

Correct. Right. Totally 

Jeff Holden: agreed with you. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And incomprehensible. Yes. Obviously, you can't eat and pick, like 

Karen Baker: rice 

Jeff Holden: isn't going to work and certain other things. That's correct. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: You know, it just, just to think there's, it's so rich yet so challenged. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. It is challenging and yet really generous in ways that hopefully we'll get to talk about.

It's great. That's coming up next. Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Tell us a little bit about the novelty of the distribution points because you also have multiple distribution points and ways to get the food. So it's not always we have to come to the food bank to pick our food up. You actually deliver in a sense. 

Karen Baker: Yes, we do. We do.

We've got, I think, really exciting programs. We've got a public distribution, which is at 19 sites. And that's either once a month or twice a month. And the calendar is at YoloFoodBank. org. You can look it up. And every single day there is [00:14:00] Some type of destination where you can pick up the food you might need throughout Yolo County.

That's one delivery system. Separate from the public distributions are the private ones. A lot of food banks ended up running private distribution to both seniors, to immune compromised. These are You know, door to door deliveries, but they, they often stopped at the end of COVID. We kept ours going. We saw that as a really important population we need to serve.

So we have close to 2000 seniors that we serve and immune compromised or people without transportation that are getting that service 

Jeff Holden: delivered, delivered 

Karen Baker: to by volunteers to their home to the 

Jeff Holden: home. Yes. I, even I didn't understand that in the 

Karen Baker: first 

Jeff Holden: conversation we had, I didn't realize it was an individual delivery.

It's an 

Karen Baker: individual delivery. And then in some cases that also might go to, let's say, an entire senior apartment complex. Yes. So at times it's one delivery, but it might impact 40. [00:15:00] right. Yeah. That happened to live in that, in that building. And then third, we have a student farmer's market. We've been having this program for years and this is going into elementary schools and now high schools and distributing produce, fresh produce, eight to 10 pounds to, uh, Our, our youth and teaching them about nutrition and setting it up like a traditional, very cute free farmer's market where you can get that eight to 10 pounds of fresh produce.

And then the high school model, we literally have a chef that is demonstrating specific dish like how the heck do you cook a spaghetti squash, right? And make it something that you will love, right? I do know, by the way. 

Jeff Holden: My wife loves spaghetti squash, and we have it often, 

Karen Baker: and literally with 

Jeff Holden: pasta sauce.

Karen Baker: It's, it's exactly how we serve it. But what we find is a lot of families, especially with really diverse backgrounds in that [00:16:00] county, people have perhaps not even been exposed to a specific, you know, vegetable or fruit. You know, you drop me in India. I will not be familiar or in Zimbabwe or wherever you drop me, I would, I will be like, what the heck is this?

And how do I consume it? Right. And how do I prepare it? So we find having that culinary education for our high school students really important. And also again, taking away that shame factor. If it's a free. During health class of free, you know, a student farmers market, they can come, they can pick up their bag of, of groceries, contribute to the family.

It's a, it's a great thing. It's a great idea. And 

Jeff Holden: it's a great way for the students to bring something home with a little bit of excitement from school. And hey, look what I got. Look what I learned today. Look 

Karen Baker: what I learned. Right. That's so true. And then lastly, and this was also because of the study we did, we were able to, in recognizing This really high percentage of ag workers that were food insecure.

We were able to set up a brand new program called Cultivo. [00:17:00] And this is a program that takes food and drops it off where our farm workers work or live. Because we often find that some of those populations that we really want to reach are unable to have the time to come to one of our distributions.

They're balancing an unbelievable work schedule, family, et cetera, can't come to, you know, our distributions. So we go to the farm and we go to the migrant housing and we literally set it up and that's all been made possible because of Sutter Health. I mean, they, they, Early investors just said, we want to back an idea like that.

And we're really grateful to them for that. But that's the kind of programs that really make a difference. 

Jeff Holden: And, and we hear Sutter Health so often in many of the people who sit in that chair that we talk with, just the amazing contribution they make to our nonprofit community and at high levels, very high levels.

We find that [00:18:00] partnerships with most of the nonprofits are really significant. And you actually have. you've got your food partnerships as well as your community partnerships. You just mentioned one Sutter. Are there other people that you work with at higher levels? Who do you collaborate most with? 

Karen Baker: My goodness.

I, there's countless people to name here. First of all, I mean on the corporate side, you've got. I think dynamic partners like Bank of America, Sutter, Dignity Health, I could go on and on. Yeah, and I know what you feel, that you have to name all of 

Jeff Holden: them because you're going to be upset that you forgot them.

So I appreciate that. But 

Karen Baker: it's great. It's great. You've got, you've got, you know, the Yosha Dehe Winton Tribe that's always been a great supporter and always there for the food bank. 

Jeff Holden: That's the Cache Creek. 

Karen Baker: Yes, correct. Yes. Incredible supporters and really active as our volunteer pool as well. Then you've got supporters.

that represent probably 76 different [00:19:00] grocery outlets or distribution centers. So, the Costcos, the Nuggets, the Raley's, Bel Air, you've got endless target, wonderful companies that are in an agreement with us through our Feeding America partnership, where we go and pick up that recovered grocery goods or non perishable goods.

And pick that up from that store. And that's what we then bring back to our warehouse, have our over 1900 volunteers come help us. Does that include 

Jeff Holden: the drivers for the individual delivery? 

Karen Baker: Yeah. That's everybody. That's the thing. That's a lot of people. That's a lot of people. Yeah. 1900 that. And, uh, sorting the food, doing quality food check, packing it, making it appropriate for whatever distribution method, and then at times delivering it, like in the case of the private deliveries.

Jeff Holden: Tell us a little bit about the food because obviously you have most likely the most robust [00:20:00] fresh produce of many food banks, unless they're sitting in Salinas or Monterey, but what about the rest of the food? And I know we, we. Talk about the quality of food and the expectation for nutrition education and understanding that this is good for you, this isn't good for you.

What is it that you serve? 

Karen Baker: What we find is, first of all, we are kind of left to, I guess, the grace of whatever comes our way via grocery recovery, right? So, at times, our load that we might pick up at a target, 30 percent of it might be water. 

Jeff Holden: Mm hmm. 

Karen Baker: You know, that's not going to, from a calorie perspective, do much for a family.

It could include, you know, rice a roni, it could canned food, it could deli products. 

Jeff Holden: Mm hmm. 

Karen Baker: Bread, obviously, we get a lot of that. You get a lot of dairy. You get, you get the variety across the [00:21:00] board from these major chains, which we're, we're very grateful for. You also get the non perishables that people forget how important it is.

Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. cat food and dog food and feminine hygiene products and items that, you know, if I can get it from the food bank through a distribution, I don't have to go out and spend my money on that. Right. But what we've recently done in the last two years is realize we have to augment this food in order to fill the gaps.

Either whether that's a gap to make it more culturally appropriate food that's offered. So, you know, I might not get enough pinto beans, black beans, lentils in what I get from, you know, a nugget. But I can go and I can purchase that to augment that, right? You just 

Jeff Holden: answered the question and say, do you actually then go out and buy it?

Because I know some of the others as well. We have to. Yeah. Or just to round out the, the serving for the community. 

Karen Baker: Correct. And then, you know, and you've also got different religious traditions, right? Yeah. That are really important to be sensitive to, [00:22:00] you know? And so are you really, you know, offering the whole bounty of what you need to be offering to really serve that community, you know?

And so, you know, we're going to be doing increasingly more and more surveying of our food recipients to find out, you know, are we hitting the mark on that? You know, because that can often be a reason why people don't reach out to the charitable food system because they just assume they're going to get a bunch of food that they cannot will not use, right?

When I'm really happy and very lucky to say that we do have a, you know, we, we're going to hand you a bag of fresh produce, a bag of shelf stable, and then dairy meat or other products that. That you can use, 

Jeff Holden: right? Something that's even culturally appropriate. 

Karen Baker: Correct. 

Jeff Holden: So And I learned that over the course of the year, too.

Really? Yeah. We, we cater to, you know, religious or ethnic cultural needs, to your point, so that that person does feel [00:23:00] comfortable and they don't feel that it's an awkward situation. They're not going to have to eat something that they wouldn't normally eat just to sustain themselves. They can actually enjoy it and feel good about it.

Karen Baker: Yeah, it's really so, so important to do that, yeah. 

Jeff Holden: We'll be back with more of the conversation with Karen, who's doing such an eloquent job of describing the novelty and uniqueness of the Yolo Food Bank, right after this message from the people who make this program possible. I was in the media business for over 35 years and had the great privilege of working with Runyon Saltzman, RSE, Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations.

We collaborated on many different campaigns, but their commitment to the nonprofit sector hasn't changed since their founder Gene Runyon started the agency. Over many years and many campaigns, Runyon Saltzman has been committed to improving lives by tackling California's most challenging issues. Guided by research informed strategies and insightful, creative solutions, RSC develops innovative communications campaigns that raise awareness, [00:24:00] Educate and reduce stigma in diverse communities throughout our state and beyond.

To learn more about RSE, visit rs e. com. 

Scott Thomas: Hello, this is Scott Thomas with CAP Trust in our Sacramento office. I specialize in working with local nonprofits and associations. Annually, we survey private and public non profit organizations across the country to better understand challenges they see in today's environment.

In our more recent survey, we heard concerns about proper board governance, mission aligned investment, and how to implement all term investments. If you'd like a copy of the survey or to discuss your organization, look me up, scottthomasatcaptrust. com. 

Jeff Holden: I'm thrilled to have Western Health Advantage partnering with us as they do so much to support so many non profit agencies in our community.

As a truly local health plan, you'll find individual and family options, employer options, Plans for CalPERS and Medicare Advantage. From medical services to [00:25:00] pharmacy, health and wellness support, as well as behavioral health care, Western Health Advantage has a plan that fits what you need as an employer for profit or nonprofit business, individual or family.

You can find more at WesternHealth. com. And on the heels of that comment of purchase, purchase requires budget, which requires income. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Let's go there a little bit. Sure. How are you funded? 

Karen Baker: We have a budget of about 5. 1 million annually this year. It used to be Like just even two or three years ago that a lot of our money came from government because in the throes of COVID, ARP funds, American rescue plan dollars were available.

That was, became a large portion of our budget. And I have to say communities really responded really robustly as individual donors, because I think everyone finally got the importance of the food bank. 

Jeff Holden: You know, in 

Karen Baker: meeting the needs of our community. So, in, in our case, those ARP dollars are gone. [00:26:00] And so those individual donors, those individuals that can give 10 a month, or those people that can give, you know, 1, 000 a month, both of those are people that we're always in contact with.

Trying to get, you know, those locked donations, ideally to become monthly donors, is, becomes really important to us. So you've got the donor, that donor class. You've got

You've got, you know, of course, your corporates that have, have really understood our elected officials in Yellow County are phenomenal. They do all that they can to leverage government funds, whether it's what they call CDBG funds in local jurisdictions, whether it's county funds. Anything they can are their state funds.

Cecilia Aguilar Curry is incredible and has been really good to the whole food security cause in really representing and trying to get more resources out of Sacramento. So I, I just have to tell you, we've [00:27:00] got. Phenomenal representation, Doris Matsui, Ami Berra, that really understand kind of the whole food frontier and really are interested in bringing resources from those sources.

But if you look at all the government resources and you pack it all in one big pile, it's only 8%. of our income. 

Jeff Holden: Oh boy. 

Karen Baker: And it's simply because there is not a government agency whose mission it is to feed people. The USDA has what they call TFAP, which is an emergency food program that was set up years ago.

And it was always set up to be kind of an of an augmentation, right? Here's a little extra food that we will send this county and you'll distribute it to families that meet criteria. 

Jeff Holden: Oh, it's actually food they send you. It's not money 

Karen Baker: sent you. Well, you order, they let you, they give you options, but then, you know, you select the food, you know, that you would order, but [00:28:00] from the USDA, but it's.

It's additive. It's that, you know, not more than 8 percent and that's when added with all other county and state funds. So that's just 

Jeff Holden: almost an incremental part of the budget. It's not even a half a million dollars. Right. You get a five million, that's not half. Yeah. Not a half a million. 

Karen Baker: You got it. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah.

Jeff, I love you because you got it completely. Yeah. 

Karen Baker: It's, no, it's, it's really, it's quite extraordinary. Yes. You know? So, I mean, that's where you're, you're raising those funds pretty much. All the time or product, you know, in our case, you know, we've got in kind, we just had a beautiful woodland parade that I participated in and we handed out mandarin oranges that a mandarin farmer gave to us like, you know, like all kinds of wonderful, generous gifts come our way.

Thank God. Yeah, 

Jeff Holden: in terms of the other elements of the budget fundraising. So you've got the community at large, you've got your local contributions, you've got [00:29:00] The minuscule amount that comes from the government elements. Yes. You do have a couple of fundraising events throughout the year that take place.

Tell me a little bit about those. 

Karen Baker: Okay, we've got such fun events. In the fall each year, we go out to Conaway Ranch and throw what's called the Global Rice Fest, which is just a phenomenal festival that celebrates with regional chefs dishes that represent all different cultures. We have amazing music and a cocktail or two.

Yes. And it's just, it's just a, a great celebration in this beautiful barn. Kyriakos Sokopoulos and AKT Development, Conway, have all been just wonderful supporters of, of the food bank for years. And, you know, he's our founding sponsor of this event. Nugget Markets is a really generous donor. You've got, you've just got all of these wonderful Certainly the 

Jeff Holden: Still family has been involved.

Probably since [00:30:00] the beginning. 

Karen Baker: Oh, Kate and Eric, incredible, right? Very, I mean, they not only have always gotten it from the perspective of donating food, you know, they're one of our biggest food donors, but they're our biggest, one of our biggest volunteer pools. They're supporting us with special fundraisers like the Global Rice Fest.

So, We're very grateful. Isn't it great to see organizations 

Jeff Holden: like that do so well over time? 

Karen Baker: Oh. You know. Knowing 

Jeff Holden: they're that committed. 

Karen Baker: They're that committed. And she's on our board of directors and it makes a big, big difference and impact on our senior staff. 

Jeff Holden: Mm hmm. You 

Karen Baker: know, it's, it's so important to have someone with her, her leadership, her sensibilities who understands the food industry, understands that community.

You know, they're a woodland business that started right there and then to see that. Um, and, uh, you know, it's just expand like they have in their success. It's just great. 

Jeff Holden: So we shift a little bit. My side track. Sorry about that from the from Rice Fest. 

Karen Baker: Then you also have, in the, in the spring, we have our golf tournament.

Okay. Which is [00:31:00] always super fun. We have a great time with that. And then in the winter, we have an appreciation event for our food donors, for our volunteers, for our financial donors. And that's just us giving back to the people that give to us. And that's just a great party that we have over at the food bank.

And those are really our three events. And then it's sprinkled with other You know, public engagements that we do, but, but that's the meat of it. 

Jeff Holden: What, about what percentage do they contribute to the total? All those events totally? 

Karen Baker: I would say probably 200, 

Jeff Holden: 000. Okay. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. It's an organization that had not traditionally been a, been a big believer in having events.

I'm a huge events person. I think it's the way that you get community to get to know each other, connect with each other. And so we've been just building that over time. And so I've only been there two years, but I really hope that we keep growing that as a, as a much more [00:32:00] significant part of our, you know, income stream.

Jeff Holden: Well, for two year immersion, you are incredibly articulate in the space, which I'm sure happens. When you immerse yourself, 

Karen Baker: you have to, you have to just like dive in, just learn everything from everybody, right? You know, you've talked to some of the great food bank, you know, legends. Blake is, is such a legend and as are others in this area.

Placer has been just phenomenal to us. Contra Costa and Solano just are great partners in the area. That, that makes a difference too. And that's what 

Jeff Holden: impresses me. that you all do not only communicate, but collaborate to the extent that you can. And share, not so much services, but knowledge and intellectual equity and the things that somebody's really doing well and best practices here.

And did you think about this? And what about that? And, 

Karen Baker: It's really important. And the California Association of Food Banks, [00:33:00] CAFB, plays a really big role in that as well. They bring us all together and we get to share those best practices, those program ideas, those development and fundraising ideas. That's really important as well.

Jeff Holden: Alright, let's have a little fun. Okay. If budget were no object, 

Karen Baker: because you're going to give me millions, is that what you think? How much do you need? Karen? You got it. What would you do? I love this about you. What would you do? You are insanely generous. You know, I think what I would do is I would build a greenhouse.

I would build an ability to, to. Consistently produce the food that we need and the variety that we need on an ongoing permanent basis. That's what I would do. I had this 

Jeff Holden: vision of Soylent Green, you know, it's a whole plant. Just massive greenhouse. Wouldn't that be fantastic? This thing would serve the entire, you know, population of half the state of California.

Karen Baker: Absolutely. I mean, I, I really feel like. [00:34:00] We have been so lucky, and I really do say that, to be the recipient of, of this, you know, grocery recovery product. But the truth is, you never know in a given year, given the economy, you don't know given weather, things that you feel like you have little to no control over.

Right. Right? It would be just so great, I think, to be in a position where we can work with farmers and either Produce our own. We are starting and work with a few farmers and lease. They're a great way to either acreage or have them, you know, plant rows of crops for us. And, and that way I can get fresh broccoli every week because I know, you know, Dominic is going to plant it for me.

Right. And so things like that really make a difference, you know, just being able to have that fresh produce. The people are probably most hungry for. 

Jeff Holden: Well, that consistency to how, how neat is that? Right. And when it'd be neat, yeah, you have your own farm. Yeah. This is my farm. This [00:35:00] greenhouse is ours. It serves everybody here in Yolo County and we will never run out of food because it's controlled.

Correct. It's a greenhouse. 

Karen Baker: Correct. Yeah, it would be, it would be fabulous. So I want you to like pull that off for me. Yeah, perfect. Perfect. 

Jeff Holden: I don't think I have enough years left in me to do so. Now if we, if we come back to reality and, and you look and assess the organization, what is the greatest need? 

Karen Baker: I think it is purchasing the food that augments the food that we receive.

It's also having money for diesel. I have to spend like a hundred K on diesel because I've got 17 trucks that I have to go send out throughout the county to go pick up the food, bring the food back, repackage it, then send it out to distributions. I've got fleet expenses like you can't believe. Yeah, let's touch on that a little bit because I don't 

Jeff Holden: think people realize Not only are you the source of, of food.

[00:36:00] Yes. And volunteers take it to various places. But you are also the warehouse. You're also a distribution center. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And on and on 

Karen Baker: and on and on. Yes. It's, we're like the Amazon, right? We're the, we're the entity that has to, warehouse the product package it, make sure that it's quality controlled and checked.

You know, we have to, we have to take, let's say if I get a, what they call a Gaylord, which is a big box of let's say apples, I've got to have volunteers that go through that, make sure that they're edible and suitable for human consumption. Take apples that are not for humans. But that perhaps hogs could eat, put it in a separate hog farmer bin, that we have hog farmers that we provide product to.

If there's other product that is so bad that humans can't, animals can't, then we work with the landfill, the Yellow County Landfill, and we do composting. So there's, there's, [00:37:00] there is literally nothing lost in the process. And what's, what's so smart about that, when you sit there and you think about In this close 9.

7 million pounds of food that we collect on an annual basis that would have gone to the landfill and instead we're feeding 30, 000 households a month with the power of the Yolo County community. You know, with those 1900 volunteers and these program models and the supporters, it's, it's really remarkable.

We, we actually can address food insecurity. We're actually not that far off from meeting the total need of those that are food insecure. You know, we just need a few of those greenhouses, right? And a few more acreage, but I'm, I'm honest when I say it's, it's within our grasp and we're the poorest of the poor, right?

And when you, when you look at another, the makeup of other counties or let's just look at ours, you've got the [00:38:00] third that are food insecure. You've got the other third that are probably right on that edge, right? So I have to raise funds with our team from that third. that might have some resources. Pray that food insecurity is their, their issue of, of choice.

Right. And that our approach, you know, is one that they can come back and hopefully get involved with. Right. And so that's what the challenge is. And I can only stay in my County. That's why I was, if you didn't get there, I was going to ask 

Jeff Holden: you about that. Yeah. The, the fundraising efforts. Are not unlike the food raising efforts in that they're supposed to be indigenous to the county.

Yes. So, you are somewhat bound by the population of Yolo County to support you. 

Karen Baker: Exactly. And so that means, that, that's why I see events as such an important part of that because if you want and expect and hope that neighbor will help neighbor, they [00:39:00] have to either know the neighbor that is struggling and maybe they're in touch it's not like you raise your hand 

Jeff Holden: and say, I'm a little food insecure, I need some help.

Karen Baker: Right, right. Or, or you come down to the food bank and you take a tour and you see that there is a solution that you can be a part of and that's where we see people get really excited, you know, I can't tell you how important it is to visit those nonprofits that you think might have their hand on the pulse of the solution because when you go in those doors, And you see how people, you know, are approaching this issue.

You will know whether it's like, yep, this is spot on. I want to be a part of this. I think people are searching for that. You know, they know there's plenty of problems in the world. It's the question is, where are the solution people out there? And what can I be a part of? And, you know, and in a way that I feel comfortable.

Do I want to give my time? Do I want to give my treasure? Do I want to give both, 

Jeff Holden: you 

Karen Baker: know? Do I want to give my talents, my, my strategy, what, what, what gifts that I have [00:40:00] could be put to work, right? 

Jeff Holden: To the point of maybe a more specific way to say that, I just keep thinking one in three. The odds are that if one in three is the case, I know somebody that's benefiting from the Yolo Food Bank.

Oh, I promise you do. Yes. And if I'm living in the community, how could I not? So I have a direct correlation or relationship with somebody who's benefiting from it. I probably know and I might be more likely to make a contribution. 

Karen Baker: When 

Jeff Holden: you distill it all down, is it really just money? Is it, yeah, that's, that's probably our number one thing.

Karen Baker: The thing that people. The greatest need. The greatest need. Yeah, you need resources. Because we're talking to people here who want to hear you. Absolutely. I appreciate that. And, 

Jeff Holden: but not everybody's going to be in Yolo County. It's, it's, 

Karen Baker: yeah. I mean, it's resources. It is definitely. It's money. It's product.

It's a team from your corporation that wants to go do a service project. [00:41:00] Oh, Like, it could be, it could be anything. We've had companies that have come out, done a service project, and then they get exposed to the Yellow Food Bank, and then they are all of a sudden go, this, I really like this approach. Then they start working the distributions.

Then they go, I want to do more. And then they start, you know, working on the packaging of food. Even, we have to package and repackage rice and beans from 25 pound bags down to two pound bags. You know, they're sitting there and weighing rice, they're weighing beans, you know, they're getting into that. We have all kinds of great, great efforts.

And then they want to start raising money and they want to help, help us raise money. It's, it's, it's amazing how people have gotten involved and just had a big impact. 

Jeff Holden: Well, even if you had that second third of people, whether they're at the top tier, the middle or 

Karen Baker: correct, 

Jeff Holden: you know, wherever they are all sharing and everybody's saying, Hey, just give a few bucks over to the food bank.

It's really important because I'm involved in, 

Karen Baker: yes. 

Jeff Holden: You know, just, just that little bit [00:42:00] is, is a lot. 

Karen Baker: And I'll, I'll tell you, we've got, we've got stories that are incredible. We've, we've, I have 

Jeff Holden: this Do tell. 

Karen Baker: Well, I had this amazing grandmother that wanted to teach her grandchildren about the importance of giving to others.

She had a plum tree in her backyard and those kids picked the extra plums that they weren't eating off the plum tree. Sold them on the side of the road and came down to the food bank and gave us a donation, right? We can either Provide the volunteers to pick those plums and provide actual fruit to people.

Or, if you want to teach your kids about the powerful fundraising model, you can, and you can drop off a donation or a product, right? It's so important that we get this next generation ready to understand that they can be a part of the solution, you know? And that's a grandmother that just cared, you know, deeply.

Jeff Holden: What a beautiful little story. And that, I prefer that way because then the kids had to do a little manual [00:43:00] labor too, which most kids today don't want to do. If it doesn't come on an app or in a handset, you know, it doesn't work. So they, they did that and they saw the benefit of the sales process, which is so important because you have to understand that money drives everything.

Oh, absolutely. 

Karen Baker: And we, we've got a new program that we're kind of Restarting, we've had harvest programs in the past, throughout our entire history, but we have a number of farmers that will have product in the fields that they'll just have to till under, because let's say it's a butternut squash that isn't a large one that would be featured.

The thing I see all 

Jeff Holden: the time is the pumpkins. Right. You see the pumpkins. Oh, we're just going to destroy all those pumpkins. The watermelons, right? 

Karen Baker: And we can take those. So we, we grab, we grabbed my, my son went to Jesuit high school and we grabbed the black student union and had the entire BSU come out and pick all of those butternut squash product that was on one farm and that was able to make a huge difference to [00:44:00] the families that we serve.

So, you know, whether you're a. A Boy Scout or Girl Scout leader, whether you're in a church or temple, like there is a way to connect with the Yolo Food Bank. And whether it's you want to be more connected to the food, whether it's more connected to the packing, whether, you know, whatever your angle is, we will work with you to get you plugged in.

Jeff Holden: You actually went a little too subtle on that. I was going to say, if you really want to work with a food bank that has a relationship with the farms. Yes, that's true. YOLO is the most significant in the farm connected food banks. I 

Karen Baker: love it. 

Jeff Holden: Regardless of where you come from, right? It's 

Karen Baker: true. It's true.

Jeff Holden: What's the best way to get a hold of the organization to learn more about it? 

Karen Baker: Sure. I appreciate that question. The best is our, is our website. YOLO food bank. 

Jeff Holden: And I will put that in the show notes along with some of your other handles that I got from your assistant. That's great. And I like on your website, it's sitting behind us for those who aren't looking at us on the YouTube [00:45:00] video, but you have these little things that pop up, you know, Susie just donated 250 and Bill donated 400.

50 from Timmy or whatever it is. I, that's, isn't that clever, right? It's very clever. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. We have, we have amazing communications and development shop. That's led by Maria Segoviano, incredible talent. And that's all done in house, all in house. 

Jeff Holden: Congratulations. Isn't that amazing? That is amazing. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. She has, we have a team that has, and very few non profits decide to invest in a great creative services manager, great web development.

I mean, you're really looking at just top notch creative that really, we really care about that. We feel like that, curated, you know, you've got to curate a whole community feel. You're, you're, you're turning to a neighbor saying, Hey, come be a part of this. I want you to like the way it feels. I want you to understand that this neighbor, this neighbor, and this neighbor's [00:46:00] participating.

I want you to see the people that you bump into in the store, you know, like that's all part of it. Right. And so, um, the aesthetics are actually really important. I think 

Jeff Holden: you have the university in your backyard and it's just came up as I'm thinking when you were talking about the integration. And the sophistication of what you have on staff for your outreach.

Yes. Do you see influence from those departments from the university as a benefit to the organization? Absolutely. Absolutely. 

Karen Baker: Oh, lucky you. Well, two of our, our board members, both Jonathan Reyes and Ned Spang from the Mondavi Food and Wine Institute are on our board. They are phenomenal contributors. We have worked.

a lot with the farm at UC Davis. We have as a partner, and I meant to mention this earlier, not only do we do our distributions, as you mentioned and framed it, but we have partner agencies, 68 [00:47:00] of them that come and shop. At the Sutter Partner agency store where they Okay. Get the product that they need to put product on the shelf at their food pantry, at their church.

Like a church or, got it. Correct. 

Jeff Holden: At the school. 

Karen Baker: At the school, whatever the, whatever the need might be. And UC Davis has a great pantry that is, is world renowned, they're phenomenal at really trying to meet the need of the food insecure on that campus. And so probably 90 percent of the food at the food pantry comes from the Yellow Food Bank.

So, I mean, it's, it's a really important partnership. Chancellor May has been a big supporter and backer of the food bank. That's been phenomenal. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah, I can see that. Yeah. You're such a benefit of. Yeah, 

Karen Baker: it's 

Jeff Holden: important. And even to the point of. Nutrition. And how to integrate maybe some of the courses and the study at the university to the food bank nutrition capabilities with what you've got.

Could it be done differently [00:48:00] if they were involved examining and all sorts of things? That's really 

Karen Baker: interesting you bring that up. We're just starting conversations with their nutrition and health professionals. I'm prescient. You are right on the cutting edge. It's, it's It's unbelievable. We did. And we did not have this conversation.

We did not have this conversation. It's just popping into 

Jeff Holden: my head as I'm thinking about all these 

Karen Baker: things. The partnership. It's complete. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. It's completely possible. All of this can be. Under the greenhouse. It can be all handled. Yeah. Yeah. We just, we just need a little coin for that.

That's right. And, but, but in partnerships, we'll, we'll make that happen. 

Jeff Holden: To the people who think. You know, food banks, boy, do we have to provide for all those people? Well, the answer is, why would we not when we have the capability? You have, you know, the stores, the stores are going to expire out and have to discard at some point if it doesn't get used, the crops are going to rot.

Right. We don't use it all, so it has to get used. [00:49:00] So it's a tremendous service that the food banks provide in a variety of different ways. Yes. In helping so many different people. Because I do hear that. It's like, well, really? I mean, do we? Yeah, we get the ones that are really, really, yeah, no, we do because we have this excess.

Why would we not take advantage of it to a full 360, as you mentioned? 

Karen Baker: Yes. Yes. I love the way that you're putting this. I think that's exactly right. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. It's, it's just an unbelievable opportunity. I don't know why we wouldn't. Right. To your point. Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Well, every, every time I talk to a food bank now or somebody in the food service to the greater good for the community.

I'm learning and absorbing and something else comes up that I, you know, I didn't think about or I didn't hear or I did hear and it didn't come up in another discussion and it may benefit that person who has that doubt or who's thinking, what do I really want to give to that? Or do I need to give to this?

Right? Well, think about it. You know, it's, it's the oxygen mask in the airplane. What do you do first? You, you take the oxygen for yourself [00:50:00] so that you can take care of everybody else. Well, if the parent isn't fed, they can't go to work. They can't help the family and you know, it just cascades into a bad situation.

Karen Baker: Jeff, you get it.

Jeff Holden: You know, fortunately or unfortunately, we have the benefit of talking to a lot of non profits, so. It 

Karen Baker: matters that you get it, it matters that we're talking about it with this level of kind of sophistication. Right. So rare. You know, do we get the time to really dig into these, these issues? It's usually, you know, the, the sound clip that's two minutes.

You get 

Jeff Holden: 10 minutes and that's it. Well, that's, that's the point. It's really the point of the whole program. Right. It's to tell these stories so people hear them and they know them and they understand them. And then you get to share them with the people who maybe don't understand it completely. Now you have it.

You don't have to spend the hour with that person. No, that's right. Here. I, I shared it all. It's all right here. Here 

Karen Baker: it is. And to the benefit of 

Jeff Holden: your, your donors to hear that you're out there doing your thing and potential donors hear it and, [00:51:00] you know, on and on and on. So we can get you more because you're not getting enough from the feds and the grants from the government side.

We need even more. We need more. Okay, and the logistics of what? On the surface seems like a really pretty straightforward organization. It really isn't. I mean, it's it's monumental It's incredible and with all you're doing all you're moving all you're collecting all you're sorting all you're distributing And and the operation you run it really is truly amazing and giving to the people of Yolo County who are food insecure buffering that from youth students to youth families.

One in three boggles my mind. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: 30, 000 households, 10 million pounds, I know 9. to round it up. 

Karen Baker: Round it up. 10 million pounds 

Jeff Holden: of food. 

Karen Baker: Yes. 

Jeff Holden: Is amazing when you think about it and then you mentioned the diesel and the trucks and the distribution and the warehousing. It's incredible that you [00:52:00] can give people that benefit of knowing where the next meal is going to come from with confidence.

Yes. And that you're there for them. And for those who can't get to you, you're actually delivering, again, amazing, amazing service that you're providing. So to your, your team, to your 2, 000 volunteers, we love you guys. Thank you for doing what you're doing. 

Karen Baker: Yes. And 

Jeff Holden: the amazing service you're providing. 

Karen Baker: Yeah.

And I really, I so appreciate that. And I just, I've done my. Little blurb here with just just a big shout out to the staff and the team. It's by all means. Yes You want to hear this seasoned? Incredibly talented group of people that think about this every single day They just wake up and are gonna make a difference again Right and figure out how to leverage other people that want to do so whether it's a donor or whether it's a volunteer whether it's A farmer whatever it is That's what they live and they breathe and I'm just so grateful to have them as part of our team, you know I 

Jeff Holden: don't, do we address how [00:53:00] many of them you have?

Forty two. Forty two. Okay. That's a, that's a big staff. Yeah. That is a big staff. 

Karen Baker: Forty two plus the nineteen hundred. Right. The nineteen 

Jeff Holden: hundred's the amazing part. So, again, we get back to the logistics of what these food banks are doing, yours in particular with all the elements you serve, that's a monumental logistical nightmare from my perspective.

Right. Yeah, for your, 

Karen Baker: yeah. Well, and we're considered actually a pretty small food bank, you know, so, so here we are feeding, you know, 30, 000 households, you know, I think Sacramento food bank is probably around 250, 000, right? It's certainly bigger. It's, it's a lot larger. It's a, probably a different percentage of the population, right?

So that's where you get into different models that make sense. It's still an 

Jeff Holden: amazingly. Disappointing percentage, meaning so high, you just wouldn't expect it to be that high. That's 

Karen Baker: true. It's true. 

Jeff Holden: Well, thanks for all you do. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. Well, thank you for this. Very much. 

Jeff Holden: Absolutely. Our pleasure. 

Karen Baker: Yeah. Enjoyed it.[00:54:00] 

Jeff Holden: Thank you for listening to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. I hope you enjoyed the episode. If what you heard moved you, please reach out to that organization and do what you can to help. If you like and appreciate what we're doing to support local nonprofits. Please give us a positive review, subscribe, and share.

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