Eat Cheesecake, Fight Hunger

The Cheesecake Factory announced that over 320,000 cans of soup were collected across all Cheesecake Factory locations nationwide during the month of September. This surpassed the original goal of 100,000 cans.

On September 30, The Cheesecake Factory held its “You Dine, We’ll Donate” event across all locations. For every guest who dined at a Cheesecake Factory on that day and donated 2 cans of soup, 10% of their guest bill was donated to local food banks. Our local Cheesecake Factory collected 187 pounds of food.



Continuing through July 2010, for every slice of The Cheesecake Factory’s Stefanie’s Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake sold, $0.25 will be donated to Feeding America. Having tried a slice (or two) myself, I highly recommend you visit your local Cheesecake Factory and enjoy Stefanie’s Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake!

30 ways in 30 days - Week 3

Welcome to week three of 30 ways in 30 days - ways you can fight hunger in your community every day of the week. If you missed week two, or want to jump ahead, you can find the whole month of 30 days in 30 ways at www.foodbankccs.org.

30 Days in 30 Ways - Week 3

Sept. 14 -18: United WayWeek of Caring

Sept. 14: Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/foodbankccs and fan us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Food-Bank-of-Contra-Costa-and-Solano/114530700443.

Sept 15: Macy's "Come Together" invites you to host a dinner party and ask guests to pledge a donation to Feeding America in place of the usual host gift through Macy's "Come Together" website. Macy's will generously match each donation made for the campaign. Plus tonight Macy's will host the Wolrd's Largest Dinner Party at your local Macy's at 6:00 pm.

Sept. 16: Join the Food Bank's monthly donor program.

Sept. 17: Become an advocate for hunger and poverty relief. Sign up to receive Hunger Fighter advocacy alerts from the Food Bank.


Sept. 18: Sony Pictures releases Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs today. Kids can join Flint in becoming a Hunger Helper - someone who finds ways to fight hunger in the community. Become a Hunger Helper today by making your own bookmark and even writing to your Congressman.

Sept. 19: A day-long shopping event, Macy's - Passport, offers the opportunity for local non-profit organizations that support AIDS/HIV programs to raise funds. Participating Macy's stores are located at Pleasanton's Stoneridge Mall, Walnut Creek's Broadway Plaza, San Francisco's Union Square, Marin's Corte Madera Store, Palo Alto's Stanford Store, and Santa Clara's Valley Fair Store. For a $10.00 ticket to the event, you will receive a special shopping discount (exclusive to Passport in Store) to be used on almost all purchases. The Food Bank will retain 100% of the direct ticket sales proceeds. For more information or to purchase a ticket, please contact Joan Tomasini at 925-771-1315 or email jtomasini@foodbankccs.org.

Sept. 20: Host a Food Drive.

For more ideas visit our Hunger Action Month calendar online.

30 ways in 30 days - Week 1

September marks the 2nd annual Hunger Action Month, and the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, along with over 200 other Feeding America food banks, is working to fight hunger in our communities. But we need your help.

Every week in September, we'll update you on ways you can fight hunger for every day of that week. When you add it all up, you get our 30 Ways in 30 Days calendar. To kick things off, here are some simple ways you can get involved from Sept. 1 through Sept. 6.

This September, please think about what you can do to help: volunteer, donate, advocate! For more information about Hunger Action Month, these events, or just the Food Bank in general, please call 925-676-7543, email info@foodbankccs.org or visit us on the web at www.foodbankccs.org.


30 Days in 30 Ways - Week 1

Sept. 1 : Give a little during Hunger Action Month and we will feed a lot of people in our community. For every dollar donated, the Food Bank is able to provide three meals to people in need. Consider giving up your coffee or lunch out this week or even this whole month and together we can feed people in our community.

Sept 2: Find out how you can help serve a meal at a local shelter or community kitchen.Sept. 3: Energize your book group around a book that focuses on the issues of hunger and poverty.

Sept. 4: Engage your elected officials and support Child Nutrition legislation while helping your food bank win a truckload of food from Kraft Foods! Earn minutes for every action you take against hunger. Learn more about the Food Bank Competition and prizes, and start making your minutes count today!

Sept. 5: Take your children to the library and check out Fly Away Home, Uncle Willy's Soup Kitchen or another children's book featuring the theme of hunger.

Sept. 6: Donate a grocery store gift card to your local food pantry so they can provide more for those they serve.

For more ideas visit our Hunger Action Month calendar online.

More need and more donations

Check out USA Today's front page article - Food banks see more who need and more who give!

"We're up in terms of food and funds," says Ross Fraser, spokesman for Feeding America, the nation's largest network of food banks. He says food donations are up 20% and cash donations are up 46% from a year earlier.