Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services

Father Daniel Madigan founded Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services (SFBFS) in the basement of his Oak Park church in 1976. Pained by watching so many people, including small children, go hungry on the streets of Sacramento, he called together a small cadre of compassionate volunteers to tackle the problem. Over time, the number of facilities, staff and volunteers grew to meet the ever increasing need in Sacramento. His passion for helping individuals and families in need is still alive and well in the wide array of programs and services offered by SFBFS. SFBFS currently operates three large facilities, a campus of two buildings and a Demonstration Garden in Oak Park, a large distribution center in North Sacramento and a multi-level learning center in North Sacramento, as well as food distributions at 10 community sites throughout Sacramento. SFBFS serves neighborhoods with families experiencing some of the highest rates of poverty, unemployment, child abuse and neglect, malnourishment and overall hardship in the Sacramento area. Over three decades, the number of programs and services offered by SFBFS grew from food and clothing to include adult education, child development and technology. Most recently, economic trends and developments caused SFBFS to modify service delivery and in 2008, SFBFS began distributing groceries in a mobile format to reach families in need through our Food program. SFBFS runs a very lean, grassroots organization with an incredibly efficient, professional staff of 73 and a volunteer workforce of over 6,200 annually. SFBFS continues to meet the increasing demands for services by leveraging donations when purchasing food, baby supplies and reading material for pennies on the dollar. Through a diverse array of programs and services, SFBFS provides free emergency goods and services to over 150,000 men, women and children each month.