YoloShines: Yolo Food Bank

The next time you have some spare change, consider this: A $1 donation to the Yolo Food Bank will fund three meals for a hungry Yolo County neighbor. Or, the $1 will magnify to $5.50 in wholesale food purchases. Like fresh produce? Your $1 will buy seven pounds of fruits and veggies.

Not to lay on the guilt, but here are two sobering facts to ponder:

- More than 20% (44,000) of Yolo County residents do not have enough to eat.

- One in four children do not know where their next meal will come from.

Enter Yolo Food Bank, one of our favorite community organizations. We have had the fortune of working with the Food Bank over the past year. On behalf of RepowerYolo homeowners, we have donated more than $5,000 to the Food Bank.

The latest: In the name of Repower homeowners Matt and Holly Bishop, Ron and Andrea Forrest, Elaine Lau and Carlton Larson, and Kathleen and Michael Rockwell, we donated $2,000 last week to the Food Bank. That’s 6,000 meals for hungry neighbors thanks to the YoloShines program.

Every dollar makes a difference, and we’re endeavoring to elevate our support for the Food Bank in 2016. Please join us in working to reduce hunger in Yolo County: Click here to donate, or you can learn more about volunteering here.

A (great) night at the council chambers

I have great admiration for Davis city council members. Incredibly devoted, immensely under appreciated. As individuals and a council, they can’t please everyone with every position/vote, but this group’s solid.

Admiration to the side, I usually loathe attending council meetings. Last night was different. Here’s why:

First my son was Youth Mayor for the Day (actually, for about 10 minutes, but who’s counting?). He crafted a proclamation seeking more sports fields — baseball especially — for our kids. And he learned about the sausage-making, governance process. Pretty cool for a 13-year-old, and kudos to all council members (particularly Mayor Dan) for opening their chamber.

Second, there was a simple proclamation trumpeting the upcoming (May 3) Big Day of Giving. Click here to learn more about this extraordinary, regional event. For us, we’re living a Big YEAR of Giving through our Yolo Shines program.

Third, my comrades at Sierra Energy were honored as the annual Environmental Business of the Year by the City. Grand kudos to CEO Mike Hart, a longtime friend and partner in crime. I had the pleasure of helping Mike start Sierra Energy 14 years ago and it has been a pleasure to witness the company’s emergence … potential game-changing, waste-to-energy technology. Learn more about recent developments here.

A final observation from the peanut gallery: A great quality of our community is the preponderance of smart people who care. A lot. Ours is a deeply-engaged hamlet. Conversely, a not-so-great quality of our community, if/when you want to get something done: A critical mass of intelligent citizens who care. We have a lot of people who “think it” versus “do it.” And, it hamstrings our ability to move forward.

Sierra Energy is doing it, not merely thinking about it. Bravo!