County renews Food Fight challenge to Contra Costa, cites need as federal benefits face disruption

The Solano County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 28 unanimously adopted a resolution challenging Contra Costa County to the annual "Counties Care Holiday Food Fight," a friendly fundraiser that supports the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.

Matthew Davis of the County Administrator—s Office and Caitlin Sly, president and CEO of the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, briefed supervisors on the Food Bank—s operations and the charity—s current capacity. Sly said the Food Bank distributes roughly 2.7 million meals each month across the two counties and that the drive comes at a time of rising need.

"For every dollar you raise, we are able to provide enough food for two meals," Sly said, and she warned that interruptions to federal benefits could increase local demand. She told the board that an estimated 30,000 Solano households could miss CalFresh benefits as of Nov. 1 if the federal shutdown affected program operations.

The board—s resolution calls on county departments and staff to participate in the Nov. 17–Dec. 31 fundraiser; the county will report results early in 2026. Chair Mitch Mashburn asked departments and supervisors to help publicize donation locations and volunteer events.

The resolution passed by a 5‑0 vote. Following the vote, supervisors posed for a photo with the Food Bank and the "Big Apple" trophy used to track the friendly competition each year.

Ending: The board asked staff to promote the food drive and to coordinate on outreach to affected residents; the Food Bank said it will scale distributions through partner agencies and direct distributions if demand grows.