Fighting hunger

A nonprofit organization based in Livermore is addressing food insecurity and malnutrition throughout the entire Tri-Valley one meal at a time. And with a recent facility upgrade and several new initiatives in the works, Open Heart Kitchen plans to build upon its services for years to come.

Founded in 1995 with the goal of distributing food and meals to individuals and families in need in the area, the nonprofit continues to grow and tailor its outreach services to better serve the community.

Current Executive Director John Bost began his role in January of this year. Bost had been a volunteer with the organization since 2010 after hearing about it through a friend.

“Over the course of the last decade, I’ve had the opportunity to volunteer in a number of roles and at different locations throughout the Tri-Valley,” Bost told the Weekly in a recent interview. “When I stepped into the executive director role, I already felt as though I knew almost everyone on staff and many of the longtime volunteers. It felt like coming home.”

It’s estimated that since its inception, Open Heart Kitchen has served over 7 million meals — 3 million of those meals were served at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022.

Last year alone, OHK served over 450,000 meals.

“We anticipate the day when we will measure our success not by how many meals we served but by how many individuals we helped transition into realizations of self-sufficiency who no longer need our service,” Bost said.

“Every meal we can place in someone’s hands means income that can be put toward important things like prescription medication, child care, utility bills, rent and transportation,” he added. “We know that by the time people show up in our line it’s because they have cut back on food — eating less, not eating at all or eating less nutrient-dense meals.”

Denise Boulter, OHK development director, described the robust food preparation and distribution process that the organization takes on every day.

“Meals are prepared and cooked with fresh ingredients in our main production kitchen starting at 6 a.m. (Then) our delivery driver picks up the meals midmorning five days a week and delivers them to service sites throughout the Tri-Valley,” Boulter said. “Hot meals and senior meals are served at the Robert Livermore Community Center. Senior meals are also available at the Pleasanton Senior Center and Dublin Senior Center.”

As part of its Street Outreach Program, the nonprofit delivers hot meals to approximately 18 to 25 encampment sites in the region.

“Groceries are distributed at two pop-up locations in Dublin and Pleasanton on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week,” Boulter added.

As development director, Boulter’s key role is to bring in funding support from donors so that OHK can deliver on its mission.

Boulter said this year, OHK’s goal is to raise $3.7 million, plus another $3 million for the launch of the Open Heart Food Bank.

As for the future, OHK has no plans to slow down or limit their services.

“One of the big steps is the near-complete Vineyard 2.0 facility at 450 N. Livermore Ave. in Livermore. This is a multimillion-dollar facility that was the dream of all three Tri-Valley cities and a whole village of nonprofit agencies and for-profit partners,” Bost shared. “The facility is one-half residential and the other half a resource center for unsheltered folks and people, in general, who are in socially and economically vulnerable situations.”

The new facility will host OHK’s new kitchen, dining room, emergency overnight shelter and various other amenities such as laundry, showers, mailboxes and case management support.

Bost said the group is hopeful the project will come online later this year or early 2024.

Additionally, OHK recently secured a 19,000-square-foot warehouse in Livermore to be home to the first-ever Open Heart Food Bank. The move was made possible through a partnership with the Alameda County Community Food Bank.

In 2022, OHK was selected to be the county food bank’s redistribution partner in the Tri-Valley, resulting in added support and funding.

“This effort will allow Open Heart to create a smaller, more efficient, accessible and localized food support system to store and redistribute food and fresh produce to agencies whose mission is to get food into the hands of community members,” Bost said. “We’re hopeful that construction for the infrastructure buildout for the Open Heart Food Bank will begin this fall.”

“Every nonprofit is faced with hard decisions of when, where and how to grow and expand to meet the ever-growing and changing needs of the community,” he said. “The addition of the Open Heart Food Bank was simply a logical next step for us.”

Bost added, “We have a lot to learn from our Alameda County Community Food Bank partnership but are confident that we’ll have the capacity to redistribute tens of thousands of pounds of fresh produce and groceries to local agency partners in our first several years of operation.”

The Open Heart Food Bank has set the goal of redistributing 1 million pounds of food annually within the first decade of its operation.

“The new facilities — the Vineyard 2.0 Project and the Open Heart Food Bank — are game changers in our work to provide equitable access to food,” Boulter said. “Also, our program staff has done an excellent job of redesigning our menus to include vegetarian meals and offer more culturally diverse options.”

“The Open Heart Food Bank will be a food redistribution center for the Tri-Valley, giving easier access to other small, local pantries and being prepared to act as a receiving and distribution location in the event of a disaster,” she added.

Boulter and Bost each shared positive sentiments about working with OHK, their volunteers and client base.

“We value respect and dignity for everyone that we serve and interact with, whether you are a donor, a client or a volunteer. It’s important to me that anyone who interacts with Open Heart Kitchen is treated with kindness and feels valued,” Boulter said.

“I’m energized by being part of a multi-talented team of individuals who all bring something unique to the table in our collective fight against food insecurity,” Bost added. “This organization has been at this impactful work for almost 30 years now and keeps exploring ways to provide equitable access to nutritious meals while building a food-secure tomorrow.”

OHK is also gearing up for a major fundraising gala to celebrate the work OHK has done and raise awareness for their programs. Complete with live music, food and auctions, Heart of the Tri-Valley Gala will take place Sept. 8 at the Palm Event Center in Pleasanton.

The group continues to adapt its outreach work and programs year after year.

“We are actively working to rebuild our volunteer base to better meet the growing needs of our programs,” Boulter said. “With rising food prices and the end of emergency COVID-19 funding, my hope is that our supporters continue to see the value in helping Open Heart Kitchen meet our clients’ needs and collectively fighting hunger together.”

To find out more information about the gala event or OHK programs, visit openheartkitchen.org.

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