Supporting Our Community’s Coronavirus Response

Organizations throughout our community have stepped up in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. At the Foundation, we are proud to partner with the organizations listed below which are all rising to meet the challenges created by this pandemic. These organizations feed and support the people in our community who are most vulnerable. The pandemic is long from over, and these organizations need our support to continue their vital work.

All donations in this appeal will go directly to the organization you select for general support.

Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County provides a critical safety net for disadvantaged and underserved individuals and families excluded from the prosperity of Silicon Valley.

We are disrupting the cycle of poverty and implementing new solutions to some of Silicon Valley’s most pressing socioeconomic problems, including racial inequality and ongoing pandemic relief for families. Our services target five areas: food, housing, health, education and economic security.

Since the pandemic shutdowns in March, Catholic Charities has mobilized resources and realigned staff to deploy a rapid response to the ongoing crisis. In the past eight months, we have fed over 400,000 individuals, ten times more people than the agency served in all its programs in the previous year. Never has our mission been more critical to serve our neighbors in need in zip codes throughout Santa Clara County.

Our work is only possible through the generous support from individuals and partner organizations. We invite you to join us and support our mission of changing lives for good in our community. God Bless You!

Since 1980, Loaves & Fishes has provided nutritious meals that are prepared, delivered and served to hungry and homeless families, children, seniors, veterans, students, and disabled individuals. All are welcome, no questions asked.  In the wake of COVID-19, we started experiencing challenges, and lost half of our ongoing donated food resources as corporations and universities providing us with prepared and packaged food shut down their campuses and kitchens. We have completely redesigned our services in order to ensure that we continue to serve our neighbors in need in the safest manner possible. We have moved from communal dining and service to individual “to go” meals, and increased our partnership locations by 25% (which has resulted in the number of meals we are providing to grow nearly 300% – from 2,500 meals to 7,000 meals a day).  In order for us to continue to safely serve all who come to us for a meal, we are forecasting a significant increase in agency expenses to purchase of additional food, materials, packaging, payroll and delivery service.

Since the beginning of Covid-19, demand for meals for unhoused individuals has increased by nearly double at Martha’s Kitchen.  What is more, demand for groceries for housed, but extremely poor individuals has mushroomed 30x when compared to our pre-pandemic levels.  Martha’s Kitchen has been making sure that those left behind by other safety-nets do not get forgotten.

Food is a basic need, like air and water.  At Martha’s Kitchen we endeavor to feed the hungry with dignity, no questions asked.  We are serving 100,000 hot meals every month and providing 250,000 pounds of groceries each month to our neighbors in need.  While demand for services is up, due to the pandemic, volunteer participation is down, as people shelter in place.  This means Martha’s Kitchen needs more paid staff to do this work and feed the needy in our community.