“We’re basically feeding over 1,000 people a week,” Darrell Bosacki of West Valley Community Services told the Los Gatan.
Bosacki, a coordinator for the food programs at West Valley Community Services who’s been volunteering for the past three and a half years, helped pass out free fresh produce, pantry items and meats at a Feeding Our Neighborhoods event Tuesday, Oct. 6. No proof of Los Gatos residency or income verification required; simply an invitation for anyone to stop by and receive whatever food you need free of charge.
“A 30% increase year over year,” said Sujatha Venkatraman, executive director for West Valley Community Services and 20-year volunteer. “That’s been consistent for the last two years.” That number is soon expected to rise. In March, NBC Bay Area reported “food insecurity for adults who earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level has increased from 26% in 2001 to 46% in 2024.”
Feeding Our Neighborhoods is a nationwide initiative launched by Whole Foods Market in 2020. On Tuesday, in coordination with West Valley Community Services, the Los Gatos Whole Foods Market joined six other mobile food markets throughout the U.S. in observance of the company’s Nourishing Our Neighborhoods Day.
This wasn’t the first time Whole Foods Market teamed up with the local West Valley Community Services nonprofit. Whole Foods Market donated the refrigerated van West Valley Community Services relies on to deliver stores’ surplus perishables like meat, poultry, milk and prepared food to seven different zip codes in the Bay Area. The van is hard to miss with its colorful fruits and veggies and a large Whole Foods Market decal painted on the sides and on the back.
West Valley Community Services, established by three public health nurses, has been providing free food to South Bay communities for over 50 years (since 1973). On this warm summer day, volunteers sorted through food inside the donated van that would go to those experiencing food insecurity.
“Sometimes the challenges that we face are basically capacity challenges,” Bosacki said. “‘Can we get this food…to people that need it quickly enough before the food itself fails’? It’s, ‘Do we have enough refrigerator and freezer space for the perishables that they can’t sit outside?’”
The Los Gatos’ Whole Foods Market’s Store Team Lead Kendall Witthans also participated in the day’s activities alongside some of her fellow team leaders. The community service provided by West Valley Community Services and Whole Foods Market mirrored what Witthans said was her store’s biggest return on investment: community and service. “I think the job is a lot of fun.” Witthans said. “It’s like a community of a store.”
Strategically, Witthans said the Los Gatos’ Whole Foods’ strategy for competing with nearby high-end grocery stores is to provide the best customer service. That return on investment has helped exceed the store’s expectations week over week. The new store has topped their one million dollar quota every week since opening (with the exception of the Fourth of July holiday week).
When asked what category she credited most for her store’s success, Witthans replied, “A team that is excelling right now, I’m saying Prepared Foods. Yeah?” she motioned towards her team leaders who nodded in agreement. “Now it’s kind of normal, but when we first opened, prepared foods was only supposed to do around $70,000 a week and they’re doing over $105,000.”
Witthans said she hopes to see the store’s partnership with West Valley Community Services become a quarterly event. “I think we’re going to be doing it quarterly,” Witthans said.
“I think that’s actually the company’s promise.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing food insecurity, you can reach out to West Valley Community Services at wvcommunityservices.org/food or by calling 408-255-8033 to enroll for services. West Valley Community Center hosts food markets Monday-Friday in both the morning and afternoon (only afternoon on Thursdays).
