Kids These Days!!!

...are Awesome!

I know. I know. You thought I was going to say something about kids these days not giving or helping or working or something grandpa might say. Nope! What I saw yesterday was a group of high school students that pulled together and spent a day in pouring rain to collect food and deliver it to those in need.

Garrett W., Nocole M., and Chadd A Were Part of Our Crew That Gathered More then 500 Pounds of Food

High School students from Novato High School and Marin Catholic High School participated in a food drive to collect turkeys, hams, pies, pasta, rice, potatoes, bread and other goodies in Marin County, California and bring an estimated 500-600 pounds of food to a soup kitchen in the Tenderloin. In partnership with San Francisco-based Food Runners, we did our best to adopt Fraternite Notre Dame and help them feed their neighborhood on Turk Street.

Fraternite Notre Dame is run by two Sisters who have a true dedication to service. They feed the neighborhood out of a small facility, clean up and then sleep there to rest up and do it all over again.

Some of Our High School Volunteers and Sister Marie Benedict with Part of the Food Donated to Fraternite Notre Dame.

With the help of some social media promotion from college student Lauren W. and some great Novato mothers (!!), our volunteers promoted the food drive, collected the food and then delivered it where it was needed the week of Christmas. Sure, there's an ice skating rink in Union Square and beautiful decorations in the shopping district, but in my humble opinion, going to the Tenderloin District and doing a little something to make Christmas better for others is a side of Christmas that should also be seen and experienced.

Merry Christmas! Happy Chanukah! We wish you the best in this coming new year!

Thanks to You Marin Catholic High School

We'd just like to take a moment to thank Marin Catholic High School for its support of our Tenderloin Turkey Drive for Fraternite Notre Dame. They are allowing us to distribute flyers and even use their parking lot as a donation pick up spot. (Details are on the flyer below.)

We are also receiving support from parents at Novato High School and are very appreciative of that. Our hope is that a Marin-based corporation will also take this on and we have reached out, but we don't want to put anyone in the spotlight until they feel it is a good fit for them.

Our crew of truck drivers, Sharon Miravalle, Nina McIsacc, Cassie Alciati, Lisa Winkler, Susan White are ready to come and pick up your donations on the 21st of December. 

Last week, we were at Fraternite Notre Dame on Turk Street in San Francisco's Tenderloin District and accidentally ran into our partners, Food Runners, who were also there to help. The facility is modest, full of heart and needs our support. This is a soup kitchen where those that serve hundreds of meals literally sleep in the kitchen to rest up and do it all over the next day. It is a privilege to help them with their mission this holiday season.

December 21st is the day. Buy a second turkey, fill a bag with canned cranberries and other goodies and bring it to one of our donation stations. Or, if you happen to be with a generous corporation or neighborhood that can pull together a donation in the bay area, we will send a truck to you.

Here's our homespun flyer:

Let's Bring a Ton of Turkeys to the Tenderloin This Holiday Season!

No, really. We aren't kidding. Take a 20lb bird and multiply it by 100 and we'll have a ton of turkeys to make the holidays a little better for the Tenderloin. It's a goal we can make happen, but we need your help in the form of donated frozen turkeys, pies, canned cranberries and anything else that might make a holiday table more festive!

Though our current drop off spots are in Marin County, we will come to you and pick up a group donation if you work for a generous company in the San Francisco Bay Area. We're very pleased to partner with Food Runners of San Francisco and the Sisters at Fraternite Notre Dame to make this happen.

It's Time to Help. Be the difference!

Here are the details:

Tenderloin Turkey Drive

We're taking turkeys to the the Tenderloin. Actually, our goal is to take a ton of turkeys to the tenderloin (and canned cranberries, pies, candy and anything else that would add to a holiday table.) 

More info coming tomorrow. But, here's a preview. We've partnered with Food Runners of San Francisco and the Fraternite Notre Dame, which operates a soup kitchen in San Francisco's Tenderloin district that feeds 300 people a day and a lot more during the holidays. We are going to gather frozen turkeys and other holiday fixings and bring them into the Tenderloin so they can help feed those in need. 

High schoolers and Boy Scouts have offered to help get donations and load our truck/s so we are making this our holiday effort. 

Please stay tuned for more information on this. If you work for a generous corporation in the San Francisco Bay area and want to put together a donation, we'll send a truck to you and pick it up. Otherwise, we will have drop off places where you can bring a turkey or anything else that might be helpful and we'll make sure your items get where they are needed. Or, if you'd rather write a check and not lug around a frozen bird, you can send it to:

It's Time to Help

19 Aaron Drive

Novato, California  94949

and we'll purchase the turkey for you and send you a letter so you can let the IRS know just how nice you are. 

Remember, though I know we say this too often, but this time of year more than ever...

You Are The Difference.

Just a Quick Note of Support to the French

We aren't equipped for international response at this time and are not a political organization in any stretch of the imagination. Just want to share a thought.

"France, our hearts are yours."

Sometimes Just Being There is Enough

You know, sometimes just treating someone down on their luck like you'd want to be treated is enough. Have you ever been at a stop light where there's a homeless person on the center divider and just rolled down your window and said "Good Luck and God Bless?" Have you shaken his hand?

These are things I try to do at least a few times a week. If you don't, that's okay. This blog isn't meant to be preachy or intended to make anyone feel guilty. We all have different comfort zones. And let's be real. Sometimes when you roll down your window to chat with a homeless person it doesn't go so well. While our ambitions as a disaster relief group are pretty grand in terms of scale (We just added two semi truck trailers to our five year operating plan), it's the little things on a local level that can make a big difference. It's five minutes of your life you could be using to make someone else's day just a little better.

From what I see on YouTube, Facebook and through the experiences of my children, it seems like the younger generation gets this. Where my parents would avoid someone who looks "dirty" camped out on the street, the younger folks seem to be more comfortable actually engaging them in conversation and making them feel acknowledged and relevant.

Here's a video I ran across that made me feel hopeful. What if we all did something like this just once during the holiday season?

Click here to play the video: https://www.facebook.com/keeptheheat/videos/10153661676802069/

You Will Surprise What Happen When The Homeless Man Ask Him Wa...

More Videos by KeeptheHeat

2:14/3:39

KeeptheHeat You Will Surprise What Happen When The Homeless Man Ask Him Wait For 1 Minute...

San Francisco Charity Group Snapshot: Food Runners

What happens to all those muffins left over after that coffee break at the industry conference you were at? Where did all the extra bagels and fruit go after that charity fundraising run that ended on Crissy Field? What happens to hundreds of boxed lunches that don't get consumed during lunch meetings at Moscone Center trade shows? What do restaurants do with the food you don't eat?

Well, it turns out there's an app for that. Or, more accurately, a group of people that manage to get food from where it's no longer needed to where it is desperately needed. The group is called Food Runners.

While I've been ramping up It's Time to Help (sales plug: have you seen our new website?), I've been volunteering at local charities that are providing relief on a local level. Yesterday, I worked with Food Runners and will be rejoining their efforts later this week. This is a group that are masters at short-term logistics and manage to get volunteers with vehicles to charity events, restaurants, stores, conferences, tradeshows and other venues in San Francisco where more food is available than there are folks to eat it or buy it. If you've ever done event planning, then you know it's standard practice to have food left over at an event so you don't run short.

Food Runners takes this extra food and gets it to shelters and other organizations, such as Glide Memorial, that use their expertise and compassion to hand out the food to those in need. Food Runners relays more than 5,000 meals a day to those in need...food that would otherwise be thrown out.

If you are looking to spend some of your spare time to help others and you live in the San Francisco Bay area, this is a great way to get your feet wet in the volunteer scene. Not ready to build a house for Habitat for Humanity? That's okay. All you need is a vehicle and about an hour of your time and you can make a difference.

If you'd like to get involved, here's the contact information for their operations manager. The paperwork to get going is minimal and you can be out there as often as you'd like to be. There's pretty much something to do any day of the week. I've found this organization is good about letting you know what opportunities are out there to help without being high pressure about it. 

To learn more please contact

Nancy Haan
Operations Manager

Email: nancy@foodrunners.org
Food Donations: (415) 929-1866
Direct Line: (415) 292-4197

I'll keep exploring the local volunteer scene to let you know ways you can help while we ramp up ItsTimeToHelp.org. If you haven't already registered as a Time to Help volunteer, I definitely encourage you to do so, but the important thing is to get out there and do what you can with the time you can contribute.