Board of Directors
Maria Yap
Founder & Executive Director
Maria Yap is the founder and executive director of Peninsula Food Runners. Prior to Peninsula Food Runners, Maria devoted her time to her two children. For several years, she was a healthcare advocate and a personal chef to her mother-in-law, who was battling lung cancer. During this period, she dabbled in various diets. All was much in line with her interest in nutrition, which she minored. Her major was in Food Service Management. After graduating from Tante Marie’s Cooking school in San Francisco, she had a brief stint as a sous chef for Cuisine-in-Style in Burlingame. Prior to motherhood, Maria was employed in Marketing Sales at Burroughs Wellcome (which merged to become Glaxo Smith Kline), promoting well-known drugs such as Retrovir for HIV, Zovirax for Herpes Viruses, and Wellbutrin for Depression to Specialists around the Bay Area. Her native language is Malay and Cantonese but she is most fluent in English.
Molly Rhine
Molly Rhine is the South Bay Outreach and Marketing Manager for Peninsula Food Runners and has been with Peninsula Food Runners since 2015. Molly’s primary volunteer focus is always within her community. Prior to her current role, she was a ten-year volunteer with Hospice of the Valley, as well as the Los Gatos Rowing Club, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, local schools in the community, and her parish church, St. Mary’s of Los Gatos. Molly is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies. After many years in the corporate sector, she changed her direction to work on several social issues, such as food redistribution and hunger, which are of keen interest to her. Molly resides in Los Gatos with her husband, Greg, with whom she has 3 daughters.
Tod Hing
Tod Hing has over 15 years of experience in computer development and consulting. Before starting a consulting firm, he worked at Hewlett-Packard as a Senior Technical Web Consultant for 8 years. Along with developing websites, mobile apps, and web applications for Fortune 500 companies, Tod is also a web consultant for Stanford University’s Biomedical Department. Tod also developed ChowMatch, the technology used by Peninsula Food Runners to streamline the food recovery and distribution process. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Computer Engineering.
Jeffrey Lawrence
Jeffrey Lawrence has lived in the Bay Area for 35 years. He has been an attorney specializing in plaintiffs’ class action investigations and litigation, including consumer cases involving misrepresentations about food nutrition, for the past 20 years and was a federal prosecutor before that. Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food” focused on Jeff’s interest in nutrition. Those books and the exploding obesity crisis moved him to take an interest in food health and in particular, healthy eating among children and young adults.
Jeff has joined Peninsula Food Runners in an effort to distribute otherwise wasted healthy foods to those in need and at the same time limit waste in the environment. Jeff lives on the peninsula with his family and enjoys the cultural and outdoor activities in Northern California.
Patti Van Der Burg
Patti grew up in Modesto, California, the 10th of 11 children. Patti’s parents often led by example in helping others and so it brings her joy to do so as well. She received a BS in Mechanical Engineering at Cal Poly and worked in semiconductor capital equipment and medical devices for 10 years, before becoming a stay-at-home mom, with volunteering on the side. Patti’s husband of 26 years, Erik, is a medical device entrepreneur. Their kids are 17 (high school) and 20 (University of Oregon). Living in Los Gatos, she is active in Rotary, racquetball, and reading. Patti also enjoys the opportunity to both reduce waste and feed the hungry at Peninsula Food Runners.
John Walker
With over 30 years of experience in leadership development, John has been deeply involved with Vistage International, the global leader in executive coaching for business owners and CEOs. As a Silicon Valley and San Francisco CEO peer group chair, he has mentored more than 250 executives and facilitated over 500 executive board sessions. His contributions earned him the prestigious International COPE Award, and he continues to serve as Chair Emeritus and a valued member of the advisory board. Additionally, he has held leadership roles within Vistage, including Corporate VP of Marketing and Manager of the Western Region.
An accomplished entrepreneur, John founded multiple businesses focused on innovation and sustainability. He played a key role in introducing Brita water filters to the West Coast and launched two companies dedicated to converting food manufacturing waste into useful byproducts. Through Walker and Associates General Management Consulting, he has provided strategic guidance to businesses seeking growth and operational efficiency. His corporate experience also includes leadership roles in international forest products and natural resource manufacturing companies, where he managed operations and strategy at a global scale.
Academically, John holds an MBA from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech. He remains actively engaged in advisory roles, currently serving on the Promex Corporation advisory board and previously contributing to organizations such as Quakefinder, Los Altos Financial, and Children of Grace. A dedicated community leader, he has also served as President of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association in Northern California and is a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honorary.
Staff
Hoai-An Truong
For over three years, Hoai-An (pronounced ‘Why-Ann’) Truong has served as the Peninsula Food Runners Program Manager. Every day, she coordinates volunteers to rescue surplus food and deliver it to organizations dedicated to feeding those in need. What makes Hoai-An tick? Making meaningful contributions toward reducing food waste. It’s one of the top 5 climate solutions to reducing and removing emissions from the atmosphere. By reducing food waste and diverting it from landfills, we can feed those in need AND reduce harmful greenhouse gases.
Luanne Desales
Growing up in the Philippines, where friends and neighbors are treated like family, friendliness, and empathy became second nature to her.
After moving to the U.S. and raising three sons with her loving husband, her sense of compassion only deepened. This innate kindness naturally drew her to roles that connect with people and help them navigate challenging times.
She began volunteering at the food bank during the 2020 pandemic, where she witnessed firsthand the devastating impact on the community. That experience inspired her to dedicate a part of herself to a greater purpose.
Two years ago, she became the head of food distribution at Corpus Christi Church, serving approximately 185 families every Friday and Saturday. She was also actively involved in the Latino Task Force food distribution program at the Casa de Apoyo Center in the Excelsior District.
Her journey with Peninsula Food Runners began when she met founder Maria Yap at a Corpus Christi food distribution, where she was a recipient of food donations. This led to an invitation to join the organization on January 7, 2025.
For her, as long as there is work to be done—both for her family and for others—she will never feel tired.
Advisory Board
Marc Yelnick
Marc is a retired attorney, who also studied business at the MBA level. Fighting the Climate Crisis has been playing a significant role in his thoughts and actions for the past two decades. During this period, he has been a frequent Crisis-focused speaker, advocate, and lobbyist in the Bay Area. Marc currently serves as legal counsel to, and is a Director/Vice Chair of, Burlingame’s Citizens Environmental Council (CEC), is on the Board of Advisers of the New Roots Institute, and serves as an Electric Car Ambassador for Acterra. He has been an active runner for about a decade, thereby adding food insecurity-related ameliorative action to his environmental activism. Under Marc’s leadership and organization, CEC members have picked up excess food from North Peninsula Trader Joe’s locations every Thanksgiving and Christmas for delivery to emergency shelters, soup kitchens, low-income housing, etc. Marc regularly plays pickleball and has resumed international travel and attending art-house movies and rock concerts.
Linda Levinson
Linda grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and later earned a degree in elementary education from the University of Colorado in Boulder. After college, she backpacked through Europe for five months and spent a year in Mazatlán, Mexico, working at a tourist hotel, where she became fluent in Spanish.
At 24, she moved to San Francisco, where she built a career in travel and eventually started her own agency. Later, she relocated to Saratoga for her husband’s job in San Jose, where they have lived for 26 years. She has three children—two biological sons and an adopted daughter from Russia.
After starting several companies, Linda retired 12 years ago and has since dedicated her time to volunteering. For the past six years, she has worked with Jewish Family Services’ refugee division and actively volunteers with Peninsula Food Runners, finding purpose in reducing food waste and supporting both donors and recipients. She also enjoys photography trips with her husband, traveling the world, meeting new people, and using her Spanish in different countries.
Laura Medanich
Laura Medanich is a seasoned marketer with 25+ years of experience as a CMO, consultant, and in-house expert. She’s worked with brands like Adobe, Sonicare, Acura, and Kia, specializing in brand building, strategic planning, and research. With a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of the Pacific, Laura has driven sales for restaurant chains and created upscale branding for luxury properties.
Currently, she gives back as a food runner, and marketer for Peninsula Food Runners, blending her passion for community impact with her results-driven mindset.