WATSONVILLE — Second Harvest Food Bank works year-round with more than 100 organizations to deliver donated food to nearly 55,000 people throughout Santa Cruz County every month.
This includes food pantries, churches and soup kitchens, among others.
More than 100 of those agencies came together Monday at Twin Lakes Church for the food bank’s 12th annual Partner Agency Conference, which organizers say is a chance to meet colleagues, share ideas and strengthen ties.
“We do this to help our agencies build a strong network,” said Agency Relations Manager Tiffany Wong of the conference.
Seminars included emergency preparedness and grant writing.
As part of the daylong meeting, the food bank handed out its Food Industry Donor of the Year Award to Driscoll’s Berries.
The Watsonville-based company has been donating to Second Harvest for 20 years, said CEO Willy Elliott-McCrea.
According to McCrea, the berry grower has given more than 10 million pounds of berries to the food bank since the two began working together.
“Driscoll’s has been an amazing partner over the past two decades,” he said. “And there is nothing better than berries.”
