Thanks to a generous grant from Impact100 East Bay, a clearer picture of hunger in Contra Costa County is about to come into focus.
Impact100 East Bay is a group of Bay Area women in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, who have come together to make an impact on their community. Together they grant funds for transformative new projects that make a measurable difference for our neighbors in need – like our new community mapping project through the Food Security Collaborative.
This new group includes the Food Bank, as well as our partners at Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa, St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County, Meals on Wheels Diablo Region and White Pony Express. Together, we’ll be using funds from Impact100 to begin breaking down barriers to food across our community.
The Food Bank works closely with more than 260 local nonprofits to fight hunger across our counties – but we know that language differences, transportation issues, a lack of information, and other issues can still prevent some neighbors from getting the food they need.
Together with the other members of the Food Security Collaborative we’ll be creating a Food Equity Map for Contra Costa County. This map will show all the places we and our partners are providing food now.
“From there we’re hoping to see where our gaps in service are, and where we might be overlapping and could be more resourceful,” says Kim Castaneda, Food Bank Vice President of Development and Communications. “We want to make sure the people that need to be served are being served, and that we’re serving the community in the way that it needs.”
Once we’ve mapped the hunger landscape, we’ll collaborate on how to fill those gaps in service and reduce hunger. We’ll also be working together to improve access to cultural food in our communities, so neighbors can continue to cook and enjoy the foods that nourish them best.
Mapping and strategy building will take place throughout 2025, with a pilot program to address our findings in 2026. We’ll share more as this work develops.
Thank you to Impact100 East Bay for supporting our collaborative work to end local hunger!
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