San Francisco's Glide Foundation gives holiday groceries to those in need

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco's Glide Foundation on Wednesday is giving holiday groceries to thousands of people in need.

Early in the morning, Glide volunteers were unloading 600 bags of food bound seniors facing food insecurity, so they can have a traditional holiday meal. Each bag has enough food to feed four.

In all, Glide will make 21 deliveries – all going to community organizations that support people who are facing food insecurity. One such delivery of 200 bags will be made to Caleld Kimochi, which serves primarily Japanese elders. 

This is a tradition Glide has been doing for over 40 years.

Glide packed two different kinds of bags ---ones with the traditional American holiday foods—turkeys, dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, and gravy---and separate bags for The City's Asian community, packed with chicken, rice, tofu, and fresh vegetables.

Glide’s chief finance and operations manager, Jean Cooper, said inflation has made it even harder for low income people to afford fresh groceries---and they want to ensure everyone can have a festive holiday meal.

"Our community is experiencing a real struggle to pay for food in this time," Cooper said. "We’re doubling our efforts to help our community to get the food and resources they need this holiday season because it’s so expensive right now." 

Glide’s grocery bag giveaway is sponsored by Gap Inc., which supported the giveaway through funding and volunteer support. 

In total, staff and volunteers packed over 10,000 oranges, 160 gallons of turkey gravy, and 1,600 pounds each of macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. They also put in 5,300 pounds of vegetables, more than 63,000 dinner rolls, 1,600 turkeys, and 3,900 free-range chickens.