For the Second Harvest of Silicon Valley food bank in Santa Clara County, the California National Guard were “lifesavers” during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, said CEO Leslie Bacho.

Some 200 Guard troops filled in for the nonprofit’s hundreds of volunteers who were under stay-at-home orders. They packed, loaded and distributed meals to people who suddenly found themselves out of work or in desperate need of help to feed themselves and their families.

Nearly six years later, Bacho might be inclined to say “thanks so much but we’ll see” to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s offer to send the state’s National Guard troops to food banks again, this time to help them cope with a possible influx of hundreds of thousands of Bay Area residents facing delays in their federal food assistance payment

See Full Page