Redwood Empire Food Bank

Went to the food bank at redbud park this morning. Apparently they have changed to stand in line, walk thru making it very difficult for seniors and disabled. Also no meat, no bread, no pasta and all the fruits and vegetables were way past usable. They also discontinued the senior boxes. Altogether a very maddening and depressing experience.

Pics of REFB food distribution at Alicia Park's Northwest corner. Their Big-Rig & staff ( volunteers ? ) seem to materialize every Thurs at 8am at this Rohnert Park site. It appears that these people cannot buy groceries cuz of their new luxury cars, ..... or maybe they pickup food here to distribute to other needs ?

TO Redwood Empire Food Bank Personnel; A number of months ago REFB discontinued delivering food boxes to the aged and impaired persons residing at the Jack Simpson Apartment Building (JSAB) located at 1051 N . Bush St., Ukiah, CA. Considering a few different factors, The REFB decision to discontinue delivering food boxes to JSAB makes it very difficult, costly, and/or impossible for some older and/or infirm persons to obtain even one box of food each month. However, apparently REFB continues to serve able bodied persons in Ukiah and provides food at several locations in Ukiah.

What a wonderful organization. This review is based solely on an experience that happened at the fairgrounds on Thursday Oct 31, 2024 at the food distribution. A medical assistant and pick up food for my clients. I was very very concerned as a medical professional, seeing that the person distributing apples and plums was blowing his nose, not washing his hands using a recycled tissue and putting it in pocket then immediately picking up the apples and putting them into the bags of those, fortunate enough to be receiving food. Not only is Covid searching, but so is RSV the flu and other transmittable diseases. This was very concerning and if the health department knew about it, I think they would do something about it. People need this because they are struggling perhaps because they are sick or for whatever reason. of course you go home and wash your food but proper precautions need be taken and training needs to be given to the wonderful volunteers who gives so much of their time for those in need. This is a wonderful organization. God bless them, but please train your wonderful volunteers on proper handling of food. Many Thanks. God Bless

I volunteer on my own and through my company. They are so organized and efficient. They are sort of the main hub for many area food banks and have kept food on many families tables throughout the pandemic.

As always it's a wonderful experience and I'm grateful to have Redwood Food Bank in our community. When I read the reviews today I was shocked to see that one person had nothing good to say and his complaints were more personal issues than anything. If they say you can only have 2 cans of corn rather than 3 be thankful you at least received 2. People that complain about and give 1 ⭐ ratings because they didn't get what they wanted need to be more understanding and grateful for what they did receive and if there's a shortage of food which happens very rarely isn't grounds to leave a 1 ⭐ rating. Redwood Empire Food Bank has always been a wonderful group of people that enjoy helping others and that alone deserves ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐thanku for all that you do to make our community a better, more happier place to live. 💚💛❤️

I volunteered at Redwood Empire Food Bank a week before Thanksgiving, post Sonoma/Napa County fires. They serve 82,000 people, 5 coastal counties. (Damn!) Depending on group, we packed boxes, bagged carrots, squash, and potatoes. I think it's safe to say, I never want to see another carrot again. 😜 ( For reference, that box of carrots was about 5 feet high, by 4 feet across)

Praise God for this charity! Man alive it keeps men and their families alive! Cannot say enough great things about Redwood Empire. They kept me going through hard times. Thank you to the many volunteers and donators of quality food with fresh produce, too. Beautiful in every way. A huge THANK YOU! 😊🙏🏻

The Redwood Empire Food Bank it's a great resource for our community it is also a wonderful place to volunteer. They're not only have human food but they also have pet food programs sometimes diapers wipes. If you are in need to reach out to them if they can't help you they'll find someone. If you're looking for somewhere to volunteer they take people pretty much of any ages smaller kids need to be with their parents there's so many opportunities to volunteer it's physical labor so I considered a work out for the day.

Where did the PayPal link go? I donated many times in the last couple of years using it - it was so much faster and easier than entering a CC# or bank routing and filling out address, phone, etc.

Thank you Redwood Food Bank ! We dropped off five bags of food (pasta, peanut butter, tuna, clams and soups) yesterday at the Whole Foods here in Petaluma. Keep up your great and much needed work !! Paul and Lynn Young

A Great Place with Great staff/volunteers. If you want to give a little of your self to help your community ! You'd like it here. Volunteering makes a heart humble. Your super Valued and service to the communities a loving priority.

The Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) serves several counties from Sonoma County all the way up to the Oregon border. REFB helps provide people healthy food and nutritional education for kids, families and seniors. REFB has an impressive warehouse facility in Santa Rosa that makes all the magic happen of packaging and producing food for communities. REFB relies on support from the community. I've had the pleasure of volunteering at REFB in several capacities over the years. I usually volunteer for warehouse support and package food boxes or weigh and package produce into bags. I've packaged apples, oranges and carrots before. I've volunteered in the kitchen and assisted the chef in creating hundreds of burritos for the community before and that was a nice hands-on experience. I even learned some new skills in the kitchen, and it was a lot of fun too! I wish there were weekend spots for kitchen collective so I could volunteer there more. There are weekend spots for the warehouse support though, which is also very rewarding. If you are looking for something new to do or want to give back to the community the REFB is the perfect place to do just that!

Help me a lots I am 85 years old, and a lot of things they have I like, need more meats. And can vegetables like beans green beans, spinach

Thank goodness for this mini mart otherwise I'd have to drive over to Molsberry or Oliver's to get groceries or something quick for lunch. This place is hidden, but has a little of everything you need. At first, I thought it was weird to go in because I am doing ok and don't get REFB donations. But this market is totally separate and the stuff they stock isn't all donated. During the pandemic it's been a real life saver. Where other grocery stores or TJs had long lines out front, Connections was quiet and mellow with no waiting. The staff are super friendly, too. If you work in the area... Medtronic, Neilmed, VA, Filtration Group, etc. This place is a 5 minute walk from your desk.

My review can only describe the volunteer opportunity as that was my most recent experience here. Taking a break from great food and spirits I decided to give some time to the neighborhood. Signing up with them was a cinch and was completed on-line. Found a few dates which worked for me and signed up. Received confirmations immediately. So far the work has been mostly light. Bulk food packaging. Matching food stuffs and then packing them for shipment. Easy peasy stuff. The bank thanks everyone for their support but never cracks a whip on how much work. You could look at it as a social hour depending. Being from a background of harder worked volunteer efforts, I almost felt like I was overdoing it. They set aside enough work to cover the allotted time so that the experience is paced. Most of the other volunteers so far had been kids sent on behalf of their schools, local JC's or retail businesses. It was a good experience, when I'm local I'd probably join in again. There are a number of volunteer opportunities to fill in and around Santa Rosa, however some require (sometimes) up to a week plus of training or applications filled which can take time to set up. This was easy and soon after completing the effort I received a thank you message from their on-line department.

I found myself on disability for 4 months. A surgery that was supposed to take 1 month. The cabinets were getting bare. Then I saw the petaluma fair ground flags and lines. I googled it. I was embarrassed to go. Then my husband said, "we all need help sometimes." I swallowed my pride and I signed up. I went 5 total weeks. It was a life saver. It gave me a sense of relief. All the workers were so kind. I got much needed proteins and plenty of produce. 5 stars from me. You made a difference in my life and I thank all of you! Forever grateful

These guys are doing great work. They really saved us during the wildfires when we had no food. We even got a turkey right before Thanksgiving through REFB, which made our holiday. The volunteers are all wonderful. I truly appreciate all REFB did for us during a difficult time. I plan to donate food and money to them once I'm back on my feet completely. Great resource if you need food or know someone in need.

I have had the pleasure multiple times now to donate my time and assist in some wonderful volunteer work at the Redwood Empire Food Bank. First and foremost, their facility is very clean and up to date, which is great since what they do involves handling not only canned food, but also produce (Veges, and Fruit). I have been on the tour they give to most volunteers a few times and it never gets old, they do a great job reminding you how lucky most of us are and how thankful they are for us volunteering in assisting the hungry. Yesterday I spent about 3 to 4 hours packing produce into bags, apples and clementines to be exact, which is always tough work, but well worth it! All staff are very friendly and willing to assist or answer any questions that you have. I would highly suggest stopping by and volunteering at some point if you are in the area and have time to donate (And or food).

What a nice community oriented service. I highly recommend this to place, they are doing good work.

They serve a great purpose and that purpose should continue through time but the people running the show are corrupt. I would not recommend any non-white female work for these people. The mother of my kids worked here for several months, she enjoyed the job and was always excited to tell me about her day. One day I came home and she wasn't excited, told me about a man at her work who was going around asking others about her sex life(I'll keep it PG) I'm not talking 1 or 2 people but closer to a dozen individuals would partake in these conversations until one man stepped in and said it wasn't right. My girlfriend did not file sexual harassment, she should have, but instead informed a Paula H. About the situation. She "took care of it" by having a meeting with several people including my girlfriend, needless to say she became the target of slander and gossip and was ostracized in the work place on a daily basis. I'll skip ahead to the question that still looms over my head a year later, why did she get fired? Was it the constant harassment she was receiving? Was it the error you made on the "Lost check?" The worst part is she tried to quit just a month before because she couldn't stand working at a place where she was constantly being harassed, but they begged her to stay. When she fills out job application after job application, it pains ME to see her have to check a box that she did not deserve *have you ever been terminated from a position. I feel WE deserve a true explanation why she lost her position.