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FREMONT -- Kenneth Adams never thought he'd have to go to a food bank. He and his wife both had good jobs, taking in $72,000 each a year, and owned their Union City home.
Then, in April 2010, Adams suffered a heart attack and was forced to go on disability. The money started running short, but it still took him six or seven months to ask for help.
"If anything, we always gave," he said. "I was too proud to beg."
Finally, though, he found himself at the door of the Tri-City Volunteers. He's never regretted it. Now 55, he not only avails himself of the nonprofit organization's services, he volunteers there.
"I jump up like I'm going to work," he said.
"I just love to see the smile that I walked away with on other people's faces."
With the nation stuck in the economic doldrums, Tri-City Volunteers Executive Director Melissa Ponchard said she's seeing more and more people like Adams looking for help.
"People who, until the last year or so, called themselves middle class," she said. "Not working class, not struggling, not unemployed. They are normal, middle class people who are coming here."
Retired software engineer Larry Plaza, 66, of Fremont, started volunteering at the nonprofit in May. He said the food bank's clientele runs the gamut.
"You see the seniors," he said. "You see the very young that are struggling with the working wage. You see the single parents. You see the whole spectrum of clients
Tri-City Volunteers has seen its demand for services almost double in the past year; it now distributes food to 400 people a day. The nonprofit agency is one of 275 subagents of the Alameda County Food Bank, but it's the largest, making up 10 percent of the county's total distributions, Ponchard said.
All of these services cost money, and Tri-City Volunteers finds itself in desperate need of cash at the same time as many of its funding sources are being slashed, Ponchard said.
For example, she recently bought $5,000 worth of toilet paper and distributed two rolls to each family. It was gone in 2½ days.
On Tuesday, the place was buzzing as workers struggled to keep up with the demand. People queued outside the office while within, staffers worked to complete intake paperwork for prospective clients. A phone chimed somewhere.
"It just rings nonstop," Ponchard said.
Out in the warehouse, a couple dozen volunteers worked to sort, bag and distribute the food. The warehouse was packed with apples, squash, salad and other fresh produce, along with bread, pasta, rice and a host of canned goods.
By Friday, it will be all but empty.
George Naicker, 78, a Union City retiree, volunteers five hours a day, four days a week.
"I'm staying home, not too much to do; I said I should go do some volunteer work," he said. "The most important thing is the poor people come; we help them out."
The agency gets the food from corporate, government and individual donations, as well as from food drives coordinated by local schools, churches and community groups.
Tri-City Volunteers primarily serves Fremont, Newark and Union City residents from households whose income falls below 50 percent of the median in Alameda County.
In addition to offering food bags and fresh produce, the agency provides brown-bag lunches for the homeless and holiday food baskets.
A walk-in freezer is packed with whole chickens for the Christmas distribution. There is also a thrift store selling cheap clothing, furniture and miscellaneous household items.
"You don't need to be too ashamed to come here," Adams said. "Sometimes we all fall short. You can be up one day and down the next. ... Put that pride aside and come on down."
Tri-City Volunteers is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday (closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m.) at 37350 Joseph St., Fremont.
Contact Rob Dennis at 510-353-7010.
The Share the Spirit campaign, sponsored by Bay Area News Group, benefits nonprofit agencies in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Readers who wish to help can clip the coupon accompanying this story. The Volunteer Center of Contra Costa administers the fund. Readers with questions and corporations interested in making large contributions may contact the center at 925-472-5760.
