While the Bay Area prides itself on tech innovation and education, hundreds of thousands of residents struggle to put food on the table, as they face food insecurity as a daily reality. In fact, 16.6% of people still struggle to access consistent meals in the Bay Area, a number significantly higher than the national average of 13.7%, according to Feeding America. In response, Gunn students and faculty are taking action, both within the school community and across the broader Bay Area. Among these efforts is the community’s collaboration with Second Harvest, to provide nutrition and volunteering opportunities in food drives.
The largest food bank in Silicon Valley, Second Harvest serves Santa Clara and San Mateo counties by distributing free, nutritious food. The nonprofit also connects families with resources like CalFresh, which provides monthly Electronic Benefit Transfer debit cards to aid low-income individuals and families. Operating across more than 400 different sites, Second Harvest serves approximately 500,000 people per month.
For many Gunn students, Second Harvest has become a familiar name through volunteering. The organization is a popular option for fulfilling the 15-hour requirement for graduation. The website sign-ups allow volunteers like him to book their three- to five-hour shifts up to a day before the event, making it a convenient way to complete service hours.
Senior Daniel Schwartz, who has volunteered at Second Harvest, says volunteering has proved to be an eye-opening reminder to have gratitude. “(I learned) that maybe I don’t know as much as I think I know (about food insecurity),” he said. “It made me feel grateful for the free food that we have here (at Gunn). I know a lot of people could benefit from it.”
Touching moments stood out in particular. Schwartz recalls handing out food to kids at the distribution site, which further inspired him to continue volunteering. “Just seeing them smile when you gave them food really impacted me,” he said.
Even as community efforts grow, questions remain about why food insecurity is significantly higher in the most affluent area in California to begin with. The rising price of housing, childcare and transportation leaves many families with little for basic needs like consistent groceries. Food insecurity extends further into income inadequacy, with lower-income households struggling to afford the cost of food with stagnant wages, while high-income households thrive.
P.E. teacher Jill Naylor, who has volunteered with Second Harvest, encourages people to volunteer at food drives to combat food insecurity. “Unfortunately, (food insecurity) is very prominent,” she wrote in an email. “Families are being impacted all over the Bay Area. Food is a basic necessity that should be given to all. Not defined by income, status or race but by the basic human need for fuel.”
Students and faculty have also taken further steps. Social Emotional Literacy and Functionality Program Coordinators Laurel Howard and Christina Norberg partnered with the Student Executive Council to organize a food drive from November to December in 2025. The event raised enough donations to feed approximately 20 families, which accounted for over 95 members of the Gunn community receiving the $2,000 worth of donations.
Junior Site Council Representative Chanew Kim helped organize. The drive aimed to offset the pause in benefits — such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, which provides monthly grocery funds to low-income households — caused by the recent government shutdown. “A lot of families in our community weren’t able to put meals on their family table,” he said. “That was a pretty big issue that we realized was affecting our community as well, not just other communities as we previously saw in a lot of the (other) current political issues.”
To promote the food drive, the SELF coordinators created a competition between grades and SELF cohorts as an incentive for students to donate or volunteer. Cohorts earned points for donations, and the winning group got pizza at their next meeting. The grade with the most points got another reward, such as ice cream.
Many different communities on campus took efforts to promote this event. Organizers hung posters around Gunn’s hallways and in many classrooms, and numerous teachers across different departments took class time to promote the event to their students. “A lot of the effort (and the success of the food drive) was possible because of other parts of the Gunn community coming together,” Kim said. “It felt really good (to be part) of something that was able to make people’s lives easier.”
Kim was also involved in expanding the food drive beyond the campus community, including elementary and middle schools within the district. According to him, schools such as Hoover and JLS also collected donations, which were transferred to Gunn to be redistricted. “(We were) trying to expand the food drive at other schools in PAUSD, besides just benefiting the communities at Gunn,” he said.
The P.E. department played a particularly high role, urging participation in the food drive by announcing that students who donated at least one bag of food items would be excused from participating in the upcoming mile. Naylor, alongside P.E. teachers Amy Anderson and Paul Medeiros, has been using this tactic to promote the food drive for the past decade.
“Knowing that there could be students or families in our community struggling to meet the basic necessities we all need to function has never sat right with me,” she wrote. “When your stomach is growling, or a headache occurs because you have not eaten for a while, it can make basic things like concentration, attention, and other physiological reactions unbearable. My students and I couldn’t sit idle and not take action.”
Naylor believes that “paying it forward” is a way for communities to connect for the better good. She showed students the importance of giving back. “(The students) realized (that) their incredible gestures were going to help many people in our Gunn community have a meal or two that otherwise may not have happened without their assistance,” she wrote. “Seeing their proud faces made me want to do something for them in exchange.”
Approximately 300 students across multiple teachers’ classes participated in the incentive. For Naylor, the turnout reflected what is possible when the community comes together and discovers a shared purpose. “(It showed me that) we all can fight this fight together and help stop this terrible food insecurity from continuing,” she wrote. “We can make this happen if we all commit to helping one another along the way, showing kindness, and recognizing it’s happening right here in our own backyard.”
