Fighting Food Insecurity with Redwood Empire Food Bank
Food insecurity has long been a year-round struggle, but the economic fallout from the coronavirus has created a need unlike anything in recent memory. With the leisure and hospitality industries disproportionally impacted by the current health crisis, we appreciate that many may not be in a position to contribute to philanthropic endeavors at this time.

That said, our partners have proven to be profoundly generous time and again. It is our hope that you might be able to assist us in doing our small part to help Redwood Empire Food Bank meet the needs of the thousands of vulnerable children, seniors, and adults requiring fresh food, groceries, and meals in Sonoma County.

There are three wonderful ways you can help:
Donate Time
Sonoma County Tourism Cares will be assembling a group of volunteers to cover an outdoor, socially distanced “warehouse” shift — packaging fresh produce, assembling grocery boxes, and sorting donated pantry items for distribution.

The volunteer event will be Thursday, March 4 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Redwood Empire Food Bank warehouse parking lot at 3990 Brickway Blvd., Santa Rosa, CA 95403. 


All warehouse volunteers will be given a free Tourism Cares t-shirt the day of the event. Once you’ve registered, please email dmcconnell@sonomacounty.com with your t-shirt size so that he can have it ready for you.

To learn about the COVID safety measures Redwood Empire Food Bank has implemented to protect volunteers, click here.
Donate Food
We encourage you to host a mini-food drive amongst your employees to help keep REFB’s warehouse shelves stocked with staple groceries.

The Food Bank’s most needed items include tuna and canned meat; peanut butter; canned soups, stews, and chili; rice and dry beans; cereal; canned fruits and vegetables; high protein granola bars; and trail mix or nuts.

Redwood Empire Food Bank kindly requests that no item be: encased in glass, perishable, open, or homemade.

Sonoma County Tourism’s community engagement specialist, Devin McConnell, will gladly pick up bags or boxes of donated groceries on Monday, March 1. Please email dmcconnell@sonomacounty.com to schedule a collection time. 
Donate Money
Lastly, Redwood Empire Food Bank gladly accepts financial donations of any amount to aid its mission of ending hunger. The Redwood Empire Food Bank can stretch every dollar donated through wholesale purchasing power for a fraction of the retail cost. For every $1 received, the Food Bank is able to provide $4 worth of healthy food.

To make a financial donation to Redwood Empire Food Bank, click here. Donors that contribute $25 or more will receive a free Tourism Cares t-shirt. Simply email verification of your donation to dmcconnell@sonomacounty.com, and he will arrange to get a t-shirt to you.
About Sonoma County Tourism Cares: Sonoma County Tourism Cares was developed by Sonoma County Tourism in May of 2017 as a way for the local tourism and hospitality industry to give back. Sonoma County Tourism Cares has partnered with environmental and charitable organizations to coordinate over 20 events with hundreds of volunteers to make a positive impact in our community. You can learn more by visiting: sonomacounty.com/power-of-tourism/sctourism-cares

About Redwood Empire Food Bank: Founded in 1987, REFB is Sonoma County's largest hunger-relief organization, serving 133 charitable organizations, including emergency food pantries/closets, shelters and dining rooms, childcare centers/youth programs, group homes, and disaster relief agencies. Belonging to the Feeding America network, its mission is to end hunger in the communities it serves. Learn more at refb.org.