While the pandemic has been tough on everybody, there are certainly those who have been hit harder than others. Knowing this, VTA employees dug deep to selflessly raise a whopping $20,716 during its annual Thanksgiving drive to benefit Second Harvest of Silicon Valley! Of more than 300 teams in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties raising money during this campaign, VTA was among the top five fundraisers.

VTA has a longstanding tradition of raising awareness of poverty and hunger in Santa Clara County through employee donations. With the pandemic doubling the need for food and volunteer opportunities, many employees also pitched in their time to help Second Harvest sort and distribute food in the community.

This year, in lieu of barrels around VTA’s five campuses to collect nonperishable food items, Second Harvest provided a donation portal for online giving. VTA set an internal goal to raise $10,000 among our 2,100 employees, and the goal was exceeded by more than double. VTA’s contributions will help Second Harvest provide 41,432 meals this holiday season, or about 50,000 pounds of food! 

Second Harvest has seen the demand for food assistance double to 500,000 people a month since the start of the pandemic. Their donation collection does not end with the holidays, as the need exists all year round.