Claudia Bonilla Keller knows about food troubles from her days as a University of California, Irvine undergrad in the 1980s.
“There was food insecurity then. We referred to it as ‘starving students,’” said the CEO of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. “And it was a bit of point of humor that we would eat 25-cent boxes of macaroni and cheese or ramen.”
That’s not an adequate diet for anyone, much less college students trying to complete their higher education. So now Second Harvest’s vast distribution network also includes 17 colleges including local community colleges, Chapman University, UCI, California State University, Fullerton and Vanguard University “because college students need more than empty carbs,” Keller said.
Then there are older students who are juggling feeding a family with seeking an education that will help them break out of the low-income ranks.
Keller won a Business Journal Women in Business Award on Oct. 30 before 850 attendees at the Irvine Marriott for her work helping to feed local children, seniors, working families, the unhoused and college students.
Nonprofit Competes for Consumer Dollars
Keller joined Irvine-based Second Harvest as chief mission officer in February 2020 and was named CEO in January 2022, helping to guide the non-profit through the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.
She said last month’s award is a recognition that “non-profits are businesses.”
“We compete for the consumer dollar like everyone else,” Keller told the Business Journal the day after winning the award.
She said this is a “particularly critical time of year” to fight hunger particularly after a period of high inflation.
“Not everyone is able to enjoy the holidays in the same way that most of us do.”
The food bank serves more than 440,000 people per month through its distribution network.
“This year we are poised to deliver 39 million pounds of food into this county,” Keller said.
Second Harvest works with 265 unique partners with 350 locations and relies on some 18,000 volunteers.
Keller said the organization is aiming to distribute more than 45 million pounds of food into OC by 2027.
Growing Food Insecurity
“This vital network includes houses of worship, school and college pantries, afterschool programs, Permanent School Pantries, senior centers, transitional housing facilities, soup kitchens and shelters for the unhoused,” the organization states on its website.
Second Harvest also welcomes donations of food and funds from its donors.
“We also work with like-minded organizations to address the root causes of hunger, like poverty and missed educational and vocational opportunities. Together we can make life better for our entire OC community,” according to Second Harvest.
Keller said the rate of food insecurity has been growing faster in Orange County than it is in California and the U.S. as a whole.
“We don’t see the problem letting up in the next two years,” Keller added. “We actually want to put ourselves out of business. So right now we see ourselves reluctantly growing because the need is high now, and we see it continuing to be high at least for next two or three years.”
Raising $90M
She said that her organization will soon be publishing its annual figures for the fiscal year ended June 30, noting that when in-kind donations and dollar financing are taken into account, the value raised is approximately $90 million.
The financing comes “from everywhere,” she added, ranging from small monthly donations to corporate support from the county’s “very successful companies” and philanthropic grants. There have also been government contracts since COVID. The organization also receives plenty of food donations.
Second Harvest has about 107 employees when fully staffed but currently has several openings.
The organization commemorated its 40th anniversary last year and in June won the Irvine Chamber of Commerce “Non-Profit of the Year Award.”
In addition to her bachelor’s degree in political science and government from UCI, Keller also holds a master’s degree in Public Administration/Urban Management from CSUF.
Prior to working at Second Harvest, she served as chief program officer for the LA Promise Fund, leading programs and services in network schools and public schools across Los Angeles County.
