Give Big: Yeske Buie West Coast Helps the SF-Marin Food Bank

Over the past few weeks, the Yeske Buie West Coast office has been volunteering with the SF-Marin Food Bank as part of our Give Big initiative. The SF-Marin Food Bank distributes over 105,000 meals on a daily basis and distributed over 45 million pounds of food in 2014.

On several different days, our team members tackled a variety of projects to help make a difference in their community. Sabina and Russell took on the task of sorting through donated plums and boxing the plums that were high enough quality to distribute, while the unfit plums were sent to local farms for pig feed. During their time there, they helped box 7,500 pounds of plums to be sent to the food bank’s +450 community partners for distribution into the community. Additionally, Jen Hicks and our summer interns Aviv Florenthal and Taylor Agostino, worked together to box 30,000 pounds of carrots to be sent to various food pantries throughout the San Francisco area. After almost three hours of work, every last carrot was packed and ready to be shipped off to its final destination. Finally, Dorothy helped put together grocery bags for delivery that contained one pound of rice, one pound of pasta, one pound of oatmeal, four packs of low-fat milk, orange, carrots, bananas, and one loaf of bread.

Knowing that all of their work would go directly towards feeding those in need was a rewarding experience for all of our team members, who enjoy volunteering with the SF-Marin Food Bank regularly. For our summer interns, this was their first experience volunteering in San Francisco or with the Food Bank. We asked our interns to share what they enjoyed most about the opportunity to give back to San Francisco and to volunteer with Yeske Buie:

One aspect of San Francisco that can be difficult at times is seeing many people who are less fortunate and not being able to help. What I enjoyed most about volunteering with Yeske Buie at the SF-Marin Food Bank was that all of our work was helping to provide food to those in need. It feels great knowing that I was able to give back to the community and that someone will directly benefit from my efforts.  – Aviv Florenthal

It’s very easy to get inspired about a cause you truly care about, and is so gratifying to see the direct impact you make. We all as humans, rich or poor, take from society and the world around us – so it is important that we must give back. Yeske Buie makes continuous efforts to build a better community and provide a higher quality of life for all. It was very moving to see an entire company come together, outside of work, for one sole purpose – to make someone else’s life better. – Taylor Agostino

Sabina and Russell after the event in front of the plums that they sorted through.	Some of the “bad” plums that will be used as pig feed.
	Taylor and Jen sorting through 30,000 pounds of carrots.
Taylor and Aviv enjoying their first Give Big event with Yeske Buie.	Aviv, Jen, and Taylor are still smiling after completing their task.
The SF-Marin Food Bank.	A shot of some of the grocery bags that Dorothy helped package for distribution.