Food Runners

Saturday, August 1, 2015

My Food Runs

Tom Davis, Volunteer

Finding something my daughter Jeannie and I want to do together isn't always easy, given that I am 66 and she is 17. But we are totally "as one" when it comes to our love of doing food runs.

Saturday mornings we pull up to Kara's on Scott Street where their staff helps us load mountains of day old cupcakes into our car.   It's a cargo that gets us a warm welcome when we deliver it to the team at the Haight Ashbury Food Program.

Tom and the cupcakes
Sunday afternoons we gear up for the Fort Mason Farmer's Market run.  I say "gear up" because we begin by stocking our SUV with a hand truck, plastic bins and all the boxes and bags we can find.  Over time we have learned that we need to be well prepared given we will be collecting a lot of food in a short timeframe.  

Jeannie loading up at the Fort Mason Farmers Market
The vendors at the market are a great group.  They give us an incredible assortment of vegetables, fruit and pastries.  It fills our SUV to the top. 

Fort Mason Framers Market bounty in Tom's car
We then head over to the Veterans Academy in the Presidio, where the veterans (mostly my age) take all that they can use.  What's left we take to Walden House.   It's a fast, tiring two hours, but we love it.

Got cargo bike? Or know anyone who does?  The "new wave" is here. Food Runners is seeking volunteers with cargo bikes to pick up food in congested downtown areas where automobile parking is non-existent.  Feed the hungry, save the environment and get some exercise in one fell swoop. Sign up here or call 415-929-1866. Best phone call ever!

To donate food, post your request on our app or call 415-929-1866.