Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is the food bank serving families in both Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
[Ads /]
CEO Leslie Bacho said the organization's hotline that you can call to find where you can get a free meal usually gets about 180 calls a day, but is now seeing more than 1,000 calls a day from people who have never needed help before.
RELATED: Coronavirus live updates: 1st case of COVID-19 reported in San Francisco homeless shelter
There was a steady stream of people pulling up to San Jose High School Thursday morning taking advantage of the new drive thru food distribution service provided by San Jose Unified schools in partnership with Second Harvest.
Thursday, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo also announced an expanded effort to provide food to those in need.
"We're working with our partners to scale our food delivery system countywide quickly to be able to serve 400,000 meals a day," said Liccardo.
A new website is being rolled out for Santa Clara County showing the list of meal pick up sites for students in the Bay Area and seniors in need of having food delivered to them.
While seniors and children are the priority, Mayor Liccardo emphasized that these services are available for anyone in need.
"These are challenging times. So many of our partners are converting their distribution sites to drive thru distributions," explained Bacho.
"We are now packing boxes of food at our warehouse to try and keep people safe. We have the national guard in and they are building more than 10,000 boxes of food a day."
At siliconvalleystrong.org you will find an interactive map of where you can pick up food for your student.
You will also find a sign-up to get food delivered if you are a senior.
Mayor Liccardo called for more volunteers to step up and donate their time to help pack or distribute food to those in need. If you'd like to donate time or money you can find ways to do so at the newly unveiled website.
[Ads /]
RELATED: Coronavirus: Australia to offer parents free child care during pandemic
You can also dial 2-1-1 to find all of the information as you would on the siliconvalleystrong.org website.
Get the latest news, information and videos about the novel coronavirus pandemic here
RELATED STORIES & VIDEOS:
- Live updates about coronavirus outbreak in US, around the world
- Everything you need to know about the Bay Area's shelter-in-place order
- Stimulus calculator: How much money should you expect from coronavirus relief bill
- What Bay Area tenants need to know about rent payments, eviction amid COVID-19 outbreak
- Live updates about coronavirus outbreak in US, around the world
- Here's how shelter in place, stay at home orders can slow spread of COVID-19
- Coronavirus Timeline: Tracking major moments of COVID-19 pandemic in San Francisco Bay Area/
- Coronavirus and the new normal of living in the San Francisco-Bay Area -- COVID-19 Diaries
- Happy hour goes virtual as people try to be sociable while social distancing during COVID-19 crisis
- Coronavirus Outbreak: Here's why you should practice 'social distancing'
- DRONEVIEW7: What the Bay Area looks like during the coronavirus shelter-in-place
- ABC7's drive around San Francisco shows empty streets, businesses shuttered
- Symptoms, prevention, and how to prepare for a COVID-19 outbreak in the US
- List of stores, companies closing due to coronavirus pandemic
- Canceled late fees, free services available amid COVID-19 crisis
- Here's how you can help during COVID-19 pandemic
- How to maintain learning during school closures
- No masks but here are 100+ products that may help protect you against novel coronavirus germs
- Here's a look at some of history's worst pandemics that have killed millions
- Asian community fighting racism, xenophobia, bigotry as world fights COVID-19
[Ads /]