#1MonthChallenge

Across the country, many Americans are being counseled by colleagues, family, and friends to have on hand roughly a month’s worth of food. The fear driving this messaging is understandable. Supply chain issues will certainly befall the country in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. But, it is a remarkable luxury for those who can afford such an investment.

For most Americans, choosing to follow this guidance is a decision in stark conflict with the reality of paying rent. We’ve all heard the statistics.

• 40% of Americans have less than four hundred dollars in the bank.
• Almost 3 in 10 Americans have no emergency savings at all.

It’s terrifying but also abstract. It’s too easy to distance yourself from said Americans without knowledge of their location, their industry, and their age. To make it more understandable in today’s crisis, please understand that this reality is everywhere – here in the Bay Area just like everywhere else.

Roughly 870,000 Bay Area residents are food insecure. That means that 870,000 Bay Area residents don’t know the source of their next meal. Canceled school lunch programs, reduced volunteering hours for food banks, reduced or eliminated hours for hourly wage earners and this problem compounds. COVID-19 is the perfect storm to devastate access to healthy meals for hundreds of thousands across our region.

And there is no reason in this era of innovation, prosperity, and humanity that should be the case. That’s why we are proposing that we band together quickly to ensure our students, neighbors, and friends here in the Bay Area are given the support they need. We got here together. There is no doubt about that. Now, more than ever, it’s time for us to band together and take care of one another.

A rough estimate is that it would take about 40 million dollars to help provide three meals a day for every food insecure individual in the region; about 180 dollars per month for a family of four. While we won’t (and shouldn’t be) handing out stockpiles, we believe that is a good goal to set aside in this time of crisis. So, we launched the #1MonthChallenge within our team at SAP to ensure the resources are in place to take care of all those in our community who need it.

But no single person or company can tackle this enormous problem. For all those of you who can to donate, every bit makes a difference. And for any companies that want to get involved, our campaign materials are open to all.

Let's address this one together.

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Donate today:

1. Second Harvest of Silicon Valley -- https://www.shfb.org/
2. Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano -- https://www.foodbankccs.org/
3. SF-Marin Food Bank -- https://www.sfmfoodbank.org/
4. Alameda County Community Feedback -- https://www.accfb.org/