Folsom volunteers collected nearly 39,382 pounds of nonperishable food for Twin Lakes Food Bank during the city's 13th annual Community Service Day on Sept. 19.

The haul accounts for just over half of the 70,000-plus pounds Twin Lakes Food Bank relies on from community food drives each year, the food bank said in a post-event report published Monday, Oct. 5.

The timing mattered.

The food bank's warehouse was nearly empty at the start of that week, the Folsom Times reported. By the end of the Sept. 19 collection, shelves were restocked with thousands of pounds of groceries.

Hundreds of volunteers fanned out across Folsom that morning in cars, SUVs and trucks, picking up donated grocery bags from neighborhoods and delivering them to teams at Mount Olive Lutheran Church. Volunteers there unloaded and sorted the food before it moved to the food bank. A separate crew spent the morning painting the food bank's interior walls.

More than 30,000 grocery bags had been prepared by volunteers in August and distributed to Folsom doorsteps ahead of collection day, according to the Folsom Times. More than 400 volunteers helped get those empty bags and food wish lists onto porches before Sept. 19.

By 11:30 a.m. that day, more than 26,000 pounds had already arrived at the food bank, the Folsom Times reported. The final count pushed well past that midday mark.

Lisa Tuter, executive director of Twin Lakes Food Bank, addressed volunteers at the Sept. 19 kickoff at Lakeside Church. "When people that are working hard but there's more month than money come to the food bank … I want you to know that the donations you give are directly impacting people in your own community," Tuter said, as quoted by the Folsom Times.

The food bank's programs serve the equivalent of 691,310 meals to more than 1,800 families each year, according to the Folsom Times. Since Community Service Day began 13 years ago, the annual effort has collected more than 691,000 pounds of food for the food bank in total.

Twin Lakes Food Bank said the need for donations will continue as the organization serves residents through the rest of 2026 and into 2027. Residents can contact the food bank at [email protected] or visit the organization's website to host a food drive or donate.

Upcoming: Twin Lakes Food Bank's 40th anniversary gala, "A Moment in Time," is set for Nov. 7 at Bayside Church Folsom. Tickets are $150 per person and available on the food bank's website.