Why is River City Food Bank needed, if there are other food banks?
River City Food Bank is different in two important ways. First, we are the only food closet that operates every weekday to provide nutritionally balanced food to people who live anywhere in Sacramento county. Most food closets serve a very limited geographic area defined by zip codes. Several food closets, for example, serve the downtown area, but recent data collected by the prominent Brookings Institution shows that there are as many poor people now living in suburbs as there are in inner cities (even though the percentage is higher in central cities). As another point of difference, we put a lot of effort into trying to provide a three day supply of nutritionally balanced food. It’s easy to send someone away with bags full of carbohydrates, but we are trying to provide food that is healthy and more nutritious — food that is fuel for children who are growing and in school, and fuel for hard-working adults! We often provide recipes, too, in case someone hasn’t used a particular ingre
