In the spirit of the holiday season, Second Harvest held an outdoor fundraiser to kick off their holiday food and fund drive.

The event was held on Thursday, Nov. 7. On day one, they raised $896. While that number may seem low, Dawn Barreras, the senior director of marketing, says a single dollar could provide three healthy meals to a family in need.

“This is our largest community-wide campaign, and from this, we get donated funds and food that lasts us throughout the year. So every dollar that we receive doesn’t go to overhead, it goes to providing food for our community,” said Dawn Barreras, the senior director of marketing.

Like Barreras, numerous people from the county came to support the event, like Kim Luke, the community engagement and senior communications specialist at Santa Cruz County Bank.

“Well, I’m here representing the bank, and we’ve supported Second Harvest Food Bank for years. We support what they do for the community and help them raise funds and collect food to fight hunger,” stated Kim Luke.

Kim Luke did not respond to comment when asked about how much Santa Cruz County Bank donated to Second Harvest.

“I generally donate between 50 and 100 for this event. I try to give to as many organizations in the community as possible because there are so many people in need and communities on the fringes who don’t have the support that they could really use,” said Luke.

Representatives from the college were also in attendance at the event, including President Matt Wetstein and director of marketing and communications Kristin Fabos. According to Wetstein, President of Cabrillo College, this is the school’s fourth year hosting Second Harvest since 2020 and has been providing meal aid programs to students since 2018.

“We have fresh market distribution for students two times a month, I believe, on the Watsonville and the Aptos campuses. So we started that partnership back in 2018. It gives an opportunity for students to get fresh produce and groceries they can take” said Wetstein.

Cabrillo seems like it has been focused on continuing its contributions to the community by increasing its help to Second Harvest.

“A few years back, we went into the board from the Second Harvest and called the big step forward for significantly increasing our contributions.” Stated Fabos.

Though the school currently has a total of $896, proceeds from the event have not been fully counted yet, and a total number will likely be available in January. This was the time that last year’s proceeds were fully rounded up according to Kristin Fabos.