FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS: FIND FOOD BANK MARCHES TO THE BEAT OF THE COMMUNITY Once the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into lockdown, the floodgates opened for food insecurity. FIND Food Bank faced the perfect storm; they had an extreme increase in the need for food assistance and a drastic decrease in the availability of food and volunteers. Story by: FIND Food Bank Staff
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s a leader, it was important for the CEO of FIND, Debbie Espinosa, to dig deep and utilize the knowledge she gathered from over 30 years in the industry, drawing upon the collective experiences she received from her mentors and colleagues. In this moment of a major disaster, it becomes critical to take advantage of all the tools in one’s arsenal. To resolve this trifecta of issues, Espinosa had to understand the urgency to push and drive solutions forward balanced with partnerships and people in the community who were also trying to respond. She wore many of her old hats to help the community through the crisis. She performed the duties of a CEO to drive the higher-level relationships with county supervisors, community partners, donors, and funders. In addition, she fulfilled positions that she held before to give operational and programmatic support to ensure her heads of departments could be successful. Espinosa shared how inspiring it was to see her team push themselves beyond their perceived capacity to achieve FIND’s goals. As a leader, it was important for her to encourage but also expect them to perform to better serve clients. FIND strives to meet the needs of the community, and her job as CEO is to remind her team what those expectations are.
Coming in full force allowed FIND’s Volunteer Program to branch into an entire department with AmeriCorps NCCCs, VISTAs, and the National Guard. Once they doubled their number of drive-thru mobile markets, the Outreach team efficiently learned to multi-task, including case management for CalFresh programs to help supplement food for the thousands who suddenly could not afford groceries, let alone other major expenses. Espinosa shared Rosy’s story, a mother of two furloughed from her job in the tourism industry, last April. Despite applying to over 20 jobs, none could hold under the economic pressure of the crisis. Rosy mentioned how far the food went to ease her budget, “That extra $40-$50 a week I would spend on groceries I could put towards another bill, a car payment, or an electricity bill.” “Her story reminds me why I was working 17-hour days for 15 weeks on end; our community was pushing so hard to make ends meet and the least we could do was ensure they did not starve,” recounts Espinosa. As Espinosa looks into the future, she emphasizes the importance of understanding the capacity by which the community needs FIND to serve. Now that California has reopened, FIND is starting to pick up some of the work they began before COVID. Their core work will always be to feed people, but now they are expanding into the root causes of what brings people to a food bank to help decrease the lines little by little. While also recognizing there are people in situations that may cause them to be with FIND for a long time, they are okay with that too. FIND’s ultimate goal is to end the cycles of hunger today, tomorrow, and for a lifetime.
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