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With two weekly deliveries already made and four more to come, Swank Farms, working with DeRose Vineyards, is well on the way to donating nearly three tons of fresh produce to the Community FoodBank of San Benito County.
What began as a collaboration between Dick Swank and Alphonse DeRose was marked on March 19 with the first delivery of approximately 900 pounds of Romaine lettuce. A second delivery, on March 25, included another 900 pounds of produce, including broccoli, lettuce, and cauliflower.
This gift of fresh produce is a blessing, said FoodBank Associate Director of Operations Lisa De La Cruz.
“It helps tremendously,” she said. “We have families that need produce and healthy food because of the rising costs of gas, rent, and food. This will help to offset those for our families.”
DeRose said the donations were an outgrowth of his 10% donation of February sales from his Cienega Valley and San Martin tasting rooms. Swank, he said, willingly matched the donation and selected the produce that would be given to the FoodBank.
“We know that a lot of things have been defunded,” DeRose said, “in the odd times we’re in. We wanted to try our best to help people with food insecurity and bring whatever Dick has available.”
Swank, a longtime DeRose wine club member, said he felt very fortunate to be asked to help with the donations.
“I enjoy giving back,” he said, “and the community always supports us, so any little bit that we can do, we’re glad to help.”
The produce being donated will reflect the growing season, Swank said, with English peas likely to be included, along with more lettuce and broccoli in the April 1 delivery. Tomatoes will join the shipments as they become available from the farm’s hothouses.
“We are donating something that tastes really good,” Swank said, “to get people back to eating right. It’s important that we eat fresh veggies, and they are so much better than going to the grocery store to buy something that’s a week or two weeks old.”
De La Cruz said the FoodBank serves approximately 2,700 families a week, so almost half a ton of produce per delivery goes a long way to filling their need for fresh food they might not otherwise be able to afford.
“With the downturn of the economy,” she said, “a lot of people are scaling back. We’re at the busiest we’ve ever been, and we’ve actually had to reach out and purchase some produce just to maintain a variety for our distributions.”
Swank said he is open to donating even more to the FoodBank if he could find some volunteers to help harvest it.
“We leave a lot of produce in the field,” he said, “because of the labor involved in picking it. It would be nice if we could incorporate high school kids for community service; kids who have never had their hands in the dirt, something they’ve never been exposed to.”
DeRose said he is also open, as his budget allows, to donating more. And he encourages others to contribute what they can to the FoodBank.
“Not everybody’s in a position to do it,” he said, “but if no one steps up and does it, then nothing ever happens. It’s always good to donate to local causes, whether it’s the food bank or shelters. The community has done good things for us, so we are just trying to return the favor.”
DeRose Cienega Valley Tasting Room
9970 Cienega Road, Hollister
831-636-9143
Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m/
DeRose San Martin Tasting Room
255 Fitzgerald Avenue, San Martin
Friday 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Swank Farms
4751 Pacheco Hwy, Hollister
For event information, call 831-637-4704 or visit the website
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