Food for People fundraiser turns Arcata Marsh walk into hunger relief

Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary will be the starting line for Food for People’s Move to End Hunger, a 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. fundraiser on Sunday, June 28, that will send walkers, bikers, runners and skaters onto the Humboldt Bay Trail. The scene is familiar Humboldt: a scenic public space, a family-friendly route and a community event built around movement. Behind it is a harder reality. Food for People says it now serves more than 21,000 people each month.

Participants can join as individuals or teams and seek pledges per mile or flat donations from friends and family. Food for People, which identifies itself as the Food Bank for Humboldt County, says the event supports hunger relief for children, seniors and families facing food insecurity. The Arcata Marsh start and Bay Trail course give the fundraiser a wide local reach, with a route that is accessible to people who want to walk, ride, run or skate without leaving one of the county’s most recognizable public landscapes.

Food for People was founded in 1979 and reopened its rebuilt Eureka headquarters in June 2023 after evacuating its old building in February 2020 because of a sewer inundation. The new facility at 307 W. 14th Street has 200% more cold-storage space, which the organization says helps it respond to emergencies and keep food moving through its network. Food for People says it operates 23 pantries and two congregate meal programs, and that it distributed 2.4 million pounds of food last year, 36% of it fresh produce.

The fundraiser arrives as local advocates describe a tighter hunger safety net. In September 2025, Food for People executive director Carly Robbins told the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors there had been a “huge increase” in residents needing food assistance. That same reporting put the county’s food network at 2.6 million pounds distributed last year and more than 21,000 individuals served each month. In May 2026, new CalFresh work requirements were expected to affect about 3,500 Humboldt County residents, adding pressure on adults ages 18 to 64 unless they met work, volunteer or training hours or qualified for an exemption.

Move to End Hunger lands in the middle of that strain, with Food for People also running seasonal drive-thru food distributions during the summer. The marsh-to-trail route turns a weekend outing into support for a countywide system that has become more central to daily life for households balancing food costs with housing, transportation, utilities and medical bills.