NorCal AIDS Cycle (NCAC), an annual four-day, 330-mile cycling fundraiser, ended its 2012 ride on Sunday, May 20, with a moving Closing Ceremony at the State Capitol in Sacramento. As of Sunday, the ride had raised a record $304,000 for 10 Sacramento and Northern California HIV/AIDS service organizations, up from nearly $250,000 raised in 2011. Some 110 cyclists rode over Sacramento’s landmark Tower Bridge and onto the Capitol grounds at noon on Sunday, with cheering friends, family and the 65 volunteer crew members lining both sides of the sidewalk to the Capitol West Steps. Some of the NCAC cyclists and crew are HIV positive themselves, others are not. “You can’t tell by looking at us

Volunteers put the power of repurposing to good use on Friday at the River City Food Bank’s (RCFB) Smashing of the Bowls event. The wall outside the entrance to the building at their new location is blank now, but will soon be decorated by a mosaic mural depicting empty bowls being raised and filled to feed the hungry. The tiles for the mosaic came from ceramic bowls volunteers smashed that were left over from last month’s Empty Bowls fundraiser. A ticket to the fundraiser included a simple meal and an empty bowl to symbolize the hunger problem in our region. “This project of building the mosaic (mural) out of repurposing those bowls that we can’t use came from the Metro Chamber of Comme

The River City Food Bank held its 8th Annual Empty Bowls fundraising dinner Monday at the Masonic Lodge in downtown Sacramento. Two luncheons are scheduled for today. The events raise awareness about hunger in the Sacramento area and serve as the River City Food Bank's most important fundraiser. The Food Bank building was destroyed in a fire last fall and their fundraising efforts are more urgent than before. More information about the Empty Bowls events is available in a previous Sacramento Press article.         Event Photography by Ron Nabity

The River City Food Bank is hosting its eighth annual Empty Bowls fundraiser and Potters’ Market events on March 7 and 8 at the Sacramento Masonic Temple to raise awareness about hunger in Sacramento County. Eileen Thomas, the executive director of River City Food Bank, said she finds the communities coming together most rewarding. “It’s a wonderful melding of community effort to help the hungry,” she said. “Preparation is huge – we have over 100 volunteers, seven restaurants providing soups, and 1,500 bowls,” Thomas said. On Monday from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., there will be wine and hors d’oeuvres along with gourmet soups. The restaurants participating in Monday’s event include Scott’s Seaf

  Want to help end violence against women in our community? Maybe you want to help feed the hungry? Right now, it’s as easy as clicking a button. Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento created an innovative campaign in honor of their 10th anniversary to help raise $10,000 for a deserving charity. 17 nonprofits are vying for the prize. Among them are WEAVE, River City Food Bank, Society for the Blind, and a host of others. By clicking a single button to cast your vote online, you can help your favorite charity earn this critical grant. You can make a difference in three easy ways: 1) cast your vote online; 2) tell all your friends to vote; and 3) share the voting link on your Facebook and Twi

Community leaders and supporters congregated at the corner of N and 27th streets to see the beginning stages of the new River City Food Bank. After a four-alarm fire destroyed the RCFB’s original location Oct. 21, the community immediately responded, and the Sutter Medical Center donated this space for the Food Bank to rebuild. The blaze, determined as arson by the fire department, heavily damaged the building and destroyed about 10,000 pounds of food. Though still a large empty room, save for a few hanging lights and fold-up tables, the new location promises to give clients a more comfortable space and volunteers a better ability to help the community, RCFB Executive Director Eileen Tho

Local organizations are coming forward to help River City Food Bank after a massive fire destroyed their building early on Thursday morning. Sutter Health is donating $30,000 and holding an employee food drive to help raise the 8,000 lbs of food lost in the fire. The food bank has also received a $5,000 donation from the Golden 1 Credit Union, seven PC computers from Western Health Advantage, and office furniture from Ruland’s Used Office Furnishings. The community has also responded with generous monetary donations. “This morning’s fire is a devastating loss for thousands of people in Sacramento who rely on River City Food Bank for nutritionally based emergency food,” said Eileen Thomas

  This morning at 1:46 am Sacramento firefighters responded to multiple reports of fire located at 1325 27th Street in midtown Sacramento. Initial fire crews arrived under five minutes and encountered heavy fire and smoke from the rear and attic of the second floor of the building. This building was identified as the River City Food Bank. Its contents consisted of mainly administrative office furniture and supplies. At 1:55am, a second alarm fire dispatch was requested, as the fire had quickly spread to the attic of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California located at 1327 27th Street. Impinging flames from the roof of the food bank nearly ignited a third apartment; however swift appl

The agenda for September's meeting of the Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) follows. Lt. Mike Bray hopes to have some updates from the police department on the Second Saturday shootings. Food banks have become a survival resource in todays economic climate. Many city park swiming pools have closed or are slated for closing.  Some Area 1 neighborhoods have managed to keep their pools open. We will hear what their stragities were to achieve this.  Measure B is a controversial ballot measure that could have longterm consequences on how the city utilities department operates and the delivery of services to city residents. Each month's NAG agenda is put together by residents of the

As part of a “Bowl-a-Thon” event, art students at Vista Del Lago High School in Folsom today finished off the last of 200 bowls they donated to River City Food Bank for its upcoming Empty Bowls event. The fundraiser, slated for Monday, March 8, and Tuesday, March 9 at the Masonic Temple, 1123 J Street in Sacramento, aims to raise at least $80,000 to feed growing numbers of hungry adults and children in the greater Sacramento area. “We are deeply grateful for the energy and dedication of Marianne Dana’s art students, especially during this time of difficult budget cuts for public schools,” said Eileen Thomas, Executive Director of River City Food Bank (RCFB). “Many more people are turning

Three local non-profit organizations were featured in a Sacramento Social Media Club panel on Tuesday evening hosted by the Sacramento State College of Continuing Education. The panel included Celia Cortez, Projects and Event Manager for the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Jordan Blair, Board Member for River City Food Bank; and Jon Benorden, Program Coordinator for the Center for AIDS Research, Education and Service (CARES). Lesley Miller, Media Director for 3Fold Communication, also sat on the panel. Moderator Josh Morgan, principal at Morgan/Dorado and program director for the Sacramento Social Media Club, focused the discussion on how non-profits are using social media to educ

Some say God is everywhere but last month, we discovered that social media is everywhere too—even in our churches! On October 20, 2009, the Sacramento Social Media Club held a panel discussion on the use of social media by local churches. The event, “Pray for Social Media”, was hosted by The Sacramento Press, and was moderated by Jeff Marmins of Social Media Path and partnership director for the Sacramento Social Media Club. Panelists included Josh Trevino from the Parish Council of St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church in Roseville; Robert Mees, Director of Evangelism at Sierra Baptist Church in Pioneer in Amador County and CJ Alvarado, Director of Communications and Technology at Bayside Church