Summer Lunch in Libraries? YES, it can be done!

As told by Cat Burton of the Alameda County Community Food Bank and Carmela Chase of the City of Oakland

A tale of unusual partnerships

Our partnership prior to the Library pilot project The Food Bank

Provided banners and flyers

Offered its 1-800 helpline to list sites

City of Oakland Sponsored the

summer lunch program

Our combined efforts Recruit new sites Generate media attention Coordinate outreach to schools

Libraries: a pipe dream that went viral Food Bank volunteer

suggested a nearby Library as a site

Food Bank and the City of Oakland approached the Library about the idea

We started with 1 Library for two weeks

By the end of the summer we were in 5 libraries and provided 3,500 meals to children

How Our Model Works

Challenges we had For the Food Bank

Managing and coordinating the huge response from our volunteer pool

Training people

For the City of Oakland Convincing the Library

that they wouldn’t be burdened with extra work

Refrigeration! Accommodating Library

open times with our delivery schedule

This year’s project: Scaling UP! Double the number of participating

Libraries from 5 to 10 Implement an “adopt-a-site” model with

Food Bank volunteer groups Use volunteers for outreach through

classroom visits and putting up doorhangers in nearby neighborhoods

Vendors provide refrigeration

Our contact information Cat Burton

510-635-3663 ext. 307 eburton@accfb.org

Carmela Chase 510-238-7992 cchase@oaklandnet.com