{"id":93681,"date":"2025-12-13T22:26:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T22:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/93681\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T22:26:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T22:26:24","slug":"inside-the-mercy-brown-bag-programs-mission-to-nourish-east-bay-seniors-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/93681\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside The Mercy Brown Bag Program\u2019s mission to nourish East Bay seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Share<\/a>On a gray morning in Oakland\u2019s Fruitvale neighborhood, dozens of coat-bundled seniors make their way up the ramp behind a local food bank. Inside, some reach for ripe bunches of bananas and others fill large canvas totes with bright red apples. For many of these seniors, this ritual is a nutritional lifeline.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1982 by residents at the Mercy Retirement and Care Center, the Mercy Brown Bag Program<\/a> is a nonprofit that distributes groceries to over 10,000 East Bay seniors every month.<\/p>\n

Mary Roberts, a retired lawyer who volunteers each week at one of Mercy Brown Bag\u2019s free grocery stores, shared that the interactions she has with recipients is one of her favorite parts of the job.<\/p>\n

The program provides all or most of the groceries for 85% of their clients, said Roberts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the great honor of my life, to lead this program,\u201d said Roberts.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s older adults, a group characterized as age 65 and older, experience some of the highest rates of poverty among all age groups in the state, at 21%, according to a September report<\/a> from the California Budget and Policy Center. Mercy Brown Bag relies on a mix of funding sources, including Alameda County, which provides 67% of its budget, along with support from corporations, foundations, and individual donors.<\/p>\n

\"MaryMary Roberts, of Oakland, stocks beans during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at Mercy Retirement and Care Center in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

As part of the Share the Spirit campaign, the Mercy Brown Bag Program is seeking a $25,000 grant to keep food flowing to East Bay seniors living on the brink. The funds would go toward groceries for older adults, many surviving on less than $850 a month. Program staff say that by covering the cost of food, they help seniors stay housed and healthy even as federal aid wanes. The grant would fund a full month of groceries for the 2,200 seniors served each month at the program\u2019s Fruitvale site.<\/p>\n

The program runs on a \u201cseniors helping seniors\u201d model. Each week, more than 500 volunteers \u2014 95% of them retirees aged 65 and older \u2014 sort, pack, and distribute bags of groceries to their peers in need across 82 sites, including affordable senior housing complexes, community and senior centers, and assisted-living facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people here are so sweet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

About half an hour before the seniors file into the CommonSpirit Health Grocery Store, Roberts makes her rounds, carefully inspecting each bag of challah loaves, honey cakes, everything bagels, and poppy seed muffins for traces of mold. She began volunteering in 2020, shortly after moving her mother into the Mercy Retirement and Care Center following a femur fracture. One afternoon, she noticed the center\u2019s Mercy Brown Bag food distribution trucks parked out front.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents taught me if you see a need, to do what\u2019s in your power to fix it,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIt was instilled in me to help those with less.\u201d<\/p>\n

A self-proclaimed lifelong volunteer, Roberts takes her parents\u2019 messaging seriously. There are hard moments, like telling a participant they can take only one bottle of vegetable oil or enforcing other limits that feel more like policing than helping. But she always reminds herself why she\u2019s there. Her efforts help thousands of seniors each month put a home-cooked meal on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll keep doing this until I can\u2019t anymore,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"RobertaRoberta Crawford, of Hayward, left, is greeted by Executive Director Janice Roberts after receiving free food during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at the Hayward Senior Center in Hayward, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 7, 2025. Crawford lives simply in a paid-off house bought in 1979, with most of her income going to property tax, and she shares food with her 89-year-old homebound neighbor. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

At another Mercy Brown Bag site inside the Hayward Area Senior Center, recipient Roberta Crawford moves slowly down the line of folding tables, filling her reusable grocery bag with eggs, bananas, garbanzo beans, rice, and an oat-milk-based French dessert. It\u2019s enough to tide her over until the program returns in two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you eat better, you feel better,\u201d the 67-year-old Crawford said, beaming.<\/p>\n

Just over a year ago, Crawford was struggling to provide for herself and her two daughters. That meant bare-bones, often prepackaged meals that Crawford said were as lacking in nutrition as they were in taste.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to eat clean when your options are a PB&J and canned soup,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When Crawford first discovered the Mercy Brown Bag Program in July 2024, she was greeted by rows of bright produce: baskets of apples, leafy greens, and plump tomatoes stacked beside cartons of eggs and grains. After months of stretching her budget on shelf-stable groceries, it felt like striking gold, she said.<\/p>\n

According to the program\u2019s September 2025 Impact Breakfast slideshow, fresh produce accounts for 57% of all distributed goods, followed by protein at 19% and grains at 8%. Canned foods make up just 6.5%, a deliberate choice, Roberts, the program leader, said, to ensure older adults have access to nutritious ingredients that help them stay healthy.<\/p>\n

\"VolunteerVolunteer Mike Killinen, of Hayward, gives out free food to Roberta Crawford, of Hayward, during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at the Hayward Senior Center in Hayward, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 7, 2025. Crawford lives simply in a paid-off house bought in 1979, with most of her income going to property tax, and she shares food with her 89-year-old homebound neighbor. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

With her kitchen brimming again, the Crawford family can once again enjoy the kind of meals for which they used to gather around the table. A love of Southern cooking runs deep in their home \u2014 Crawford is happiest at the stove, whipping up mashed potatoes and warm, buttery biscuits from scratch.<\/p>\n

One afternoon, Crawford noticed a crate of turnip greens sitting untouched at the end of the food line: a southern staple, but less familiar to many Bay Area cooks. She packed the greens into her bag and brought them home, where her daughter later turned them into a tasty dinner.<\/p>\n

After a fruitful morning of shopping, Crawford turned toward a group of Mercy Brown Bag volunteers who had helped her gather her groceries. Tears welled in her eyes as she prepared to leave, and she shared a message she said had been on her heart for a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you guys know the difference you make,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Volunteer<\/p>\n

Volunteer Paul Jones gives out free food during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at the Hayward Senior Center in Hayward, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 7, 2025. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Roberta<\/p>\n

Roberta Crawford, of Hayward, right, talks with Executive Director Janice Roberts, left, and Assistant Director Emily Santos, center, after receiving free food during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at the Hayward Senior Center in Hayward, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 7, 2025. Crawford lives simply in a paid-off house bought in 1979, with most of her income going to property tax, and she shares food with her 89-year-old homebound neighbor. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Roberta<\/p>\n

Roberta Crawford, of Hayward, displays the free food she received during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at the Hayward Senior Center in Hayward, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 7, 2025. Crawford lives simply in a paid-off house bought in 1979, with most of her income going to property tax, and she shares food with her 89-year-old homebound neighbor. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Roberta<\/p>\n

Roberta Crawford, of Hayward, left, is greeted by Executive Director Janice Roberts after receiving free food during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at the Hayward Senior Center in Hayward, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 7, 2025. Crawford lives simply in a paid-off house bought in 1979, with most of her income going to property tax, and she shares food with her 89-year-old homebound neighbor. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mary<\/p>\n

Mary Roberts, of Oakland, hands out free food during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at Mercy Retirement and Care Center in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Assistant<\/p>\n

Assistant Director Emily Santos stocks vegetables as senior citizens pick up free food during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at Mercy Retirement and Care Center in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Assistant<\/p>\n

Assistant Director Emily Santos, right, stocks vegetables as senior citizens pick up free food during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at Mercy Retirement and Care Center in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 7<\/p>\n

Volunteer Paul Jones gives out free food during the Mercy Brown Bag Program at the Hayward Senior Center in Hayward, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 7, 2025. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Share<\/a>ABOUT SHARE THE SPIRITShare the Spirit is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operated by the East Bay Times\/Bay Area News Group. Since 1989, Share the Spirit has been producing series of stories during the holiday season that highlight the wishes of those in need and invite readers to help fulfill them.<\/p>\n

HOW TO HELPDonations to the Mercy Brown Bag Program<\/a> enable the nonprofit to buy food for low-income older adults, providing a full month of nutritious groceries at its Fruitvale store, which serves an average of 2,200 hungry seniors each month. Goal: $25,000<\/p>\n

HOW TO GIVEDonate at sharethespiriteastbay.org\/donate <\/a>or by mail using this form.<\/a> Donations are tax deductible.<\/p>\n

ONLINE EXTRARead other Share the Spirit stories, view photos and video at sharethespiriteastbay.org.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a gray morning in Oakland\u2019s Fruitvale neighborhood, dozens of coat-bundled seniors make their way up the ramp…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[389,50758,50754,3400,50753,143,50755,145,144,50756,50757,46802],"class_list":{"0":"post-93681","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-alameda-county","9":"tag-bay-area-nonprofits","10":"tag-east-bay-seniors","11":"tag-food-insecurity","12":"tag-mercy-brown-bag-program","13":"tag-oakland","14":"tag-oakland-food-program","15":"tag-oakland-headlines","16":"tag-oakland-news","17":"tag-senior-hunger","18":"tag-senior-services","19":"tag-volunteer-program"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}