Opening new hot food service to reach more clients

River of Life Foundation and Martha's Kitchen are partnering to continue addressing the food needs of bay area communities, opening new hot food service to reach more clients.

Shelter-in-place orders have been extended for most of the Bay Area through the end of May and River of Life Foundation (ROLF) Food Pantry has seen a significant increase in food demand compared to the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

For example, the Food Pantry has been serving an average of approximately 250% more clients as more and more families are facing difficulties providing basic meals as jobs and paychecks are impacted.

Sam Loh, ROLF President shared that first-time clients showing up for assistance have almost tripled as businesses close and unemployment rises, “The need for food  has definitely increased. Many of our guests are part of the vulnerable population, but now we have many folks who have temporarily lost their job and need a healthy meal.”

As of mid-April, River of Life Foundation has partnered with Martha's Kitchen, another non-profit organization to begin offering free hot meals to people starting May 5th at the ROLF Food Distribution Center. Sam Loh shares that “this is a special time where we hope to be able to serve the population of laid-off workers or those whose hours have been cut as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.” In April and May we supported nearly 5,000 families with groceries and we are very pleased to announce that we can now distribute hot meals to those in need.

In summary, any resident in need of food can visit River of Life Foundation Food Pantry to receive a hot meal during our normal hours of operation. Every week we plan to be able to provide approximately 800 hot meals. A sincere Thank You to all for believing in and supporting our efforts, we wouldn’t be able to support our most vulnerable populations without Martha's Kitchens’ support.