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Fill the Foodbank

Virtual Food Drive

Join our Virtual Food Drive to help fill our new Sharehouse! Your donations help provide nutritious groceries to children, families and older adults in need! Your donation will stock a neighbor's shelves with essential items like fresh produce, culturally-relevant staples, and pantry basics. Thanks to our purchasing power, every $1 you contribute becomes $5 worth of nutritious groceries, allowing us to nourish neighbors across the county. Your support can be stretched 5X's further to fight food insecurity in our county!

Nourish a Neighbor!

Choose an amount to donate One-time
The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, and your donation is tax deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. Please keep your receipt as your official record. We'll email it to you upon successful completion of your donation.

Check out our shopping list!

Fresh Produce

Help us purchase fresh produce, including: squash, carrots, broccoli, spinach, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, pears, pineapple, melon, and avocados.
$
USD

Canned Proteins

Help us purchase canned or packaged salmon, chicken, ham, tuna, legumes, and beans.
$
USD

Nut Butters

Help us purchase nut butters like peanut, almond, and cashew.
$
USD

Meats

Help us purchase frozen turkeys, chickens, and ham, which are significant protein staples during the holidays!
$
USD

Shelf-Stable Dairy

Help us purchase dairy products, another great source of protein.
$
USD

Cultural Foods

Help us purchase masa harina, dried or canned beans, chile varieties, rice, canned hominy, and other culturally-relevant options
$
USD

Strengthening Our Infrastructure for Greater Impact

Expanding the Hollister warehouse into the larger Sharehouse will enhance efficiency by redistributing the workload and maximizing the already highly efficient Santa Maria facility. Currently, Santa Maria handles most food due to limited capacity in South County, causing bottlenecks. The new Sharehouse will balance food distribution, reduce strain on North County, and improve storage, transportation, and emergency response. With a stronger infrastructure, the Foodbank will operate more efficiently, providing fresher, more accessible food and better serving our neighbors in need.

Food Insecurity Impact:

Across the U.S. there is an ongoing hunger crisis. In the last year, the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County served more than 215,000 neighbors. This is a significant increase from the pre-pandemic ‘normal’ of about 180,000 neighbors served annually and is on par with the highest level of need they witnessed during the peak of COVID-19.

Make a Difference: Your contributions to the Virtual Food Drive go directly toward providing nutritious food and ensuring no one in our community goes without food.

Community Impact:

Food prices have risen by an average of 25% from 2019 to 2023, according to the USDA, significantly straining family budgets and making it more difficult to ensure that meals are regularly available. In Santa Barbara County, the situation is exacerbated by high poverty rates, with 17% of residents—and nearly 20% of children—lacking the resources necessary to meet basic needs, including food. This combination of rising costs and economic hardship highlights the urgent need for community support to help families access the nutritious meals they require to thrive.