Resident volunteers at Life’s Gardens affordable housing receiving produce donated by the Sunnyvale Farmers’ Market.

With the help of our dedicated Peninsula Food Runner volunteers, we’ve been delivering donated food to Life’s Garden Apartments, a large affordable housing residence in Sunnyvale since 2019.   About 100–150 residents participate, especially eager for fresh produce from the Sunnyvale Farmers’ Market every Saturday. The community is wonderfully diverse, including Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Thai, Russian, Latino, and other backgrounds.

Since most affordable housing sites lack weekend staff, we encourage resident volunteers to assist. Nina, the resident services coordinator, has successfully organized weekend food distribution by recruiting and training volunteers. She provides clear rules and guidelines in multiple languages and ensures a smooth, respectful process. Residents draw numbers for a fair distribution, and volunteers portion out the food.