* Friends of Sonoma (FISH), friendsinsonomahelping.org

* Redwood Empire Foods, refb.org

* St. Vincent de Paul departs from St. Francis Solano, Tuesday and Friday, 1-2:30 pm, 469 Third St. W.

* National Food/Comida para Todos, facebook.com/FoodForAllComidaParaTodos

* Friends of Sonoma (FISH), friendsinsonomahelping.org

* Sonoma Overnight Support (SOS), sonomaovernightsupport.org

* Homeless Action Sonoma, hassonoma.org

*Meals on Wheels/Aging Committee, councilonaging.com/meals-on-wheels

Elizabeth Kemp started cooking for seasonal immigrant vineyard workers on a temporary trailer next to San Leo Catholic Church, and eventually co-led Sonoma's overnight support.

Maité Iturri, a former principal who speaks three languages, launched the National Food/Comida para Todos to supply and meet basic needs for the Springs community and other areas.

Duskie Estes, a chef and gourmet network star whose restaurant was flooded, joined Farm to Pantry to distribute fresh produce to the hungry among us.

The Haystack Farm in Sonoma started planting 14 acres of agricultural products just for giving away.

Sonoma Valley is famous for its lush, beautiful idyllic vineyards, large houses and refurbished small holiday cottages, corporate leaders in hillside residences, and views of San Francisco, as well as gourmet grocery stores and restaurants.

The valley is also home to people who work in vineyards, build fences, and clean hotel bathrooms, many of whom lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are also some retirees whose fixed income cannot keep up with the pace of inflation, and those who are unable to work due to physical or mental injuries.

With all costs rising in 2021, many of our neighbors are engaged in low-paying but demanding jobs, but they still cannot afford the cost of housing and supporting their families. They face an enviable situation of paying rent or food.

In many ways, we have two Sonomas-one depicted in the brochure and the other based on the reality that the family is starving and increasingly dependent on the support of many of our non-profit organizations.

After seeing migrant workers starving, Elizabeth Kemp, herself an immigrant from England, knew she had to help. As a staunch Catholic, she runs a day care center at home, but sees her mission in life, which is to provide food for the hungry.

She serves on the board of Vineyard Workers Service (VWS), where she managed to purchase trailers to house workers who live under bushes and bridges during the harvest season. The trailer was initially stored at the late Neils Chew's Dowling Magnet Factory on East Eighth Street and later installed on land owned by the Hanna Boys Center, west of San Leo Catholic Church . Kemp started cooking in San Leo’s kitchen to help feed the workers who kept the vineyard running.

Members of San Leo and other local places of worship began to make sandwiches and distribute them; they were called Brown Baggers because the lunch was packed in a brown lunch bag with a piece of fruit or biscuit inside. Volunteers found that some sandwiches were not finished, and realized that workers from Mexico might prefer comfort food at home.

Jude Sales, Readers' Books manager and current Vice President of SOS, has been cooking with Brown Baggers since the beginning and also cooking for SOS.

“We feed temporary workers, people who have jobs but cannot afford rent and food, the disabled and the hungry. But we see more women in their 50s,” she said.

She added, “Elizabeth (Camp) started a soup meal in La Luz in 2008, which included soup, salad, bread and dessert.”

At least 80 people come to La Luz every Friday night, and some older couples call it a "date night". Under the leadership of Kemp, Brown Baggers also began to provide free Wednesday meals, cooking breakfast and lunch in Sonoma Valley Grange (now Springs Community Hall).

In the end, Brown Baggers found a legal shelter under the umbrella of SOS. SOS is a non-profit organization that also operates The Haven, a service center for the homeless in Sonoma Valley in the police station parking lot. Due to COVID, the The organization had to suspend its eight-bed shelter’s emergency overnight support for the -19 pandemic and some objections to its location.

There are hungry people almost everywhere, but in the past few years-even weeks-the demand in Sonoma Valley has increased. In fact, Kathy King, executive director of SOS, reported that from November 1 to November 15 this year, demand for breakfast and lunch increased by 25%.

Like many parts of California, Sonoma Valley has experienced devastating wildfires, earthquakes, droughts, bomb cyclones, floods, forced closures, illnesses and deaths due to the negative effects of pandemics and climate change.

SOS statistics are based on questions asked to people who come to Springs Hall for free meals. It shows that 37% of food seekers report that they are not homeless, 37% did not answer, and 25% were “self-declared homeless” Homeless.” Among those who need food, 41% of customers are women, and 43% of the homeless are Hispanics. Most people who have free hot food are between 26 and 35 years old. Among all diners, 84% are unemployed, and 10% are in more than one job.

Among the homeless, 93% said they were from the Sonoma Valley and had bad luck, such as those who lost their jobs or spouses during the pandemic. Kathy King, executive director of SOS, said they see more “elderly people who lack food”.

When Dan Kahn was unlucky and his wife and son had nowhere to live, he found solace in SOS. He learned cooking skills at Fresh Starts Culinary Academy in Novato, and now coordinates food services and volunteers in Springs Community Hall. SOS pays a monthly rent of $5,000 to cook and feed people in need.

Kahn was homeless with his family twice. He said: "When you worry about food, you accept it. The important thing is that the food is not empty calories."

Friends of Sonoma (FISH) leader Sandy Piotter likes to cite author Katie S. Marin's book "Reinventing Food Banks and Food Storage Rooms-The End The new tool of hunger".

Marin defines what we now call "food security" as access to "nutritious and safe food; the ability to obtain acceptable food in a socially acceptable way, which means that there is no need to use emergency food plans, scavenging, stealing, or adopting Other coping strategies, eat less, etc."

Piotter confirmed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of people had to wait in their cars for hours to get food, but they did not get food in what people call “socially acceptable ways”.

According to Piot, hungry people sometimes live in chaotic and unstable environments. Due to factors such as rising food, utility and gasoline costs, high rents, and medical expenses, those who join FISH and SOS at the same time do not always have too much control over their lives or choices-all of which limit spending.

Hunger can be caused by unemployment, accidents, unexpected car repairs, medical needs, and drug costs.

Piotter likes to help food bank volunteers to ensure that recipients feel welcome and dignified, and believe that people will choose what they need. She and her volunteer colleagues at FISH try to help their clients socialize, build relationships, and participate in a world where clients often feel isolated. She said they like to give people confidence and a sense of control over their lives.

According to Piotter, FISH purchased its small building on Highway 12 from AT&T 20 years ago.

Although there is an informal and quiet network of food sources, Piotter is working to restore the local food round table to establish a more formal sharing system between organizations at this time of special need.

Patrick Collins, a volunteer chef who Sonoma supported overnight, said that many hungry people came to Springs Hall "to have a stressful day, maybe every day. I'm trying to make their lives better and friendlier." , Maybe it can show leadership. I like what SOS does and realize how happy we are to help others. Many of us never have to worry about eating."

As an assistant chef, Collins makes his highly anticipated special dish-"baked oatmeal" for SOS customers every Friday. Collins said that his "previous career" was a sales job in an industrial company that was mainly engaged in automation technology in the semiconductor, biotechnology, and life science industries.

"I returned to school in my later years to get a degree in business logistics. I used this degree in my work at SOS. I was very happy to work there. I was very impressed with what Kathy King was able to do and the ability to expand the program. As demand increased ,"He said.

At SOS, part-time employees Shannel Usher and Nathalia Zavala receive new guests and act as case managers, helping people with mental health problems, who may be in crisis or abused. They see hunger as a basic need, especially when people live below the poverty line. They were all surprised by the high-quality food provided by Kahn and Chef Dawn McIntosh at SOS, who wanted to help after the restaurant where she worked was closed during the pandemic.

Zavala grew up in Sonoma and attended a local school. She saw the number of hungry people increasing everywhere, and she even saw people who grew up with her come in to eat. The goal of SOS is to make people feel comfortable, have more connections with the community, and feel satisfied, knowing that some people just need a soft place to spend their hard days.

The Redwood Empire Food Bank collects and distributes food and provides emergency food assistance to people in need in certain locations in Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Knot counties. Their efforts have saved thousands of lives. Help give back by donating canned fruits, canned chicken, peanut butter, rice, pasta, oats, dried beans, and low-sugar cereals to Whole Foods in Sonoma.

SOS collects and purchases food and is happy to accept donated food from many sources, including Sonoma's Redwood Empire Food Bank, Hay Farm and Little Paradise Farm. FISH estimates that this year it will distribute groceries to make 70,000 meals, while SOS will prepare 50,000 hot cooked breakfasts and lunches in 2021.

FISH benefited from donations of non-perishable food provided in the annual food event, as well as donations from the Redwood Empire Food Bank and local service clubs. Recently, it received two tons of canned food from Save Mart Foods, Broadway Market, Sonoma Market and the local Lucky market, collected by Sonoma Raceway.

At the same time, Food for All/Comida para Todos obtained essential items from food to feminine care from various donors, twice a month, including online currency donations from the community.

The Zazu Farm Kitchen restaurant in Estes was destroyed because it was one of the many businesses inundated by The Barlow in Sevastopol. She refocused on helping people in need provide food, including assisting chefs José Andrés and Guy Fieri to cook during the wildfires in Northern California.

As a former food network star and a permanent judge of the "Gay Grocery Game", Estes is now the executive director of the Santa Rosa-based non-profit organization Farm to Pantry, which welcomes volunteers to pick surplus crops, even Plums picked from a tree in the backyard. To organizations that provide food for the hungry.

Haystack Farm grows vegetables and flowers just for giving away. During peak week, Estes and volunteer “scavengers” (pickers) harvested 800 pounds of vegetables, donated them and transported them to Sonoma overnight support and other places. On November 10th, the volunteers gained another 600 pounds and hoped to increase production throughout the winter.

Some bouquets will be sent to La Luz Center, where everyone vaccinated against COVID-19 will receive a bouquet of beautiful and colorful flowers, which turns out to be a delightful attraction. They also go to the meal recipients of the Ceres Community Project. According to their website, Ceres, the project provides a variety of support, "for those facing serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, or congestive heart failure, providing loving beauty and medical customization. Organic meal". organization.

Estes reports that since Haystack's first planting in early May, Haystack farmer Jerome Cunnie and staff have produced 15,974 pounds of vegetables, equivalent to 63,896 servings. Volunteers picking flowers and vegetables will also drive them to their destination, whether it is the Ceres project, SOS or Burbank Housing development.

"We are helping people find dignity," Estes said. "Our volunteers enjoy the instant gratification of harvesting food to provide to those who really need it. Picking up is so rewarding."

For Estes personally, "We like to do three-hour muscle exercises with our hands, just like being a chef, but you will get dirty and use your entire body."

She and her husband, salumist John Stewart, own Black Pig Meat Co. and Black Piglet food trucks.

"The act of volunteering for others is heroic," Cunnie said. "Seeing scavengers coming together without knowing each other makes me feel hopeful. Scavengers are one of my favorite parts of my job."

For six years, Cunnie ran Domaine Chandon’s cooking garden and their now closed Etoile restaurant in Napa Valley, and started a popular micro-green planting business with his wife Audrey, which is a Bay Area restaurant Provide services and deliver to more than 70 residences.

Now, he grows food for hungry people, Cunnie said: "It makes me feel complete, warm and happy. From high-end restaurants to helping people in need is a difficult gap. Haystack Farm has achieved this goal."

Haystack volunteer coordinators, Amelia Belle and Bob Rudorf, left their previous careers in real estate and wine sales, began traveling, returned to Sonoma and bought a laundromat in Napa. Because of their love of food, they met Estes and started picking lemons in a large orchard in Sevastopol, when the owners were unable to sell lemons during the pandemic.

This prompted them to launch a collection program at the "Fight against Hunger Farm" in Healdsburg, where they began to focus on selecting and distributing food to those in need. Now, they are unpaid volunteer coordinators of Haystack Farm, and they think this job is meaningful.

Belle cites volunteer Margaret Gokey to illustrate her point. She often feels dissatisfied with the drivers around Sonoma Square, but she found, "It is equally strange when I have been harvesting and providing food to people who really need it. The travel and transportation of China doesn’t bother me. I just feel that everything that happens before me will change my life."

Rudolf added: “We understand that people have no reason to go hungry. We just need to figure out how to distribute it to everyone. We have retirees and young people volunteering at Haystack, and we all feel that we must now change our The way food is handled."

Kay Austin divides her time between collecting Haystack and cooking at Meals on Wheels and SOS. She said: “It’s so satisfying. I grew up with 11 siblings and I didn’t. How much. I’m fine now, and I really like to give back. I like helping others and the look on the faces of the people we help.”

Haystack's spirit and generosity inspired other growers, such as Little Paradise Farm and SunRay Farm. The non-profit organization encourages anyone with fire escapes, balconies, backyards, patios or vineyards to grow some food to share with those who are truly hungry. A friend even proposed to collect extra fruits from the trees in his mobile home park next year. There are too many fruits to be eaten by the neighbors. Farm to Pantry will pick up the goods and distribute them to the places where they are really needed.

Mary Evelyn Arnold, former Sonoma Alcaldessa, volunteers as a chef at SOS every Wednesday and Thursday.

"When you are hungry, nothing else matters. It's not art, education, sports, nothing. There is no more important calling than feeding people," she said.

Kathleen Hill is a member of the SOS board of directors, helping organizations in need connect Farm to Pantry.

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