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A federal grant failed to materialize nationwide earlier this year, leaving Open Heart Kitchen to foot the bill for investments in staff expansion, equipment and operations. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
The Open Heart Food Bank is capable of redistributing at least 3 million pounds of food annually when operating at capacity. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
As part of budget cuts this fiscal year, OHK froze its plans to hire three additional employees for food bank operations, decreasing efficiency at the facility. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Volunteers help Open Heart Food Bank redistribute goods to food pantries in the Tri-Valley from the Alameda County Community Food Bank. (Photo courtesy of OHK) 
Fresh vegetables await distribution from the Open Heart Food Bank. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
The food bank redistributes foods such as chicken. (Photo by Jude Strzemp)
The Tri-Valley’s largest nonprofit nutrition provider recently enacted a range of budget cuts after federal funding fell short of expectations.
Open Heart Kitchen anticipated receiving an $850,000 reimbursement for the construction of its new food bank in Livermore. The money was forecasted for distribution from the nationwide “Community Project Funding” program, from which zero dollars were allocated for the federal government’s 2025 fiscal year.
As a result, OHK was left to foot an unexpected bill.
Now as it gets ready to celebrate its 30th anniversary — with one year of operations at Vineyard Resource Center and a new food bank under its belt — the nonprofit has reduced and eliminated select services to the Tri-Valley in order to balance its budget for the current fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the organization braces for increased demand for services, amid federal cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
“We had no reason to believe the $850K grant could be taken away, so we made sizable investments in staff expansion, equipment and operations to meet the growing demand for food resources in the Tri-Valley,” OHK Executive Director John Bost said. “We are now left holding the bag for all those expenses, and no pathway to invoice the federal government for reimbursement.”
Founded in 1995, the nonprofit organization was originally a small, grassroots effort to address hunger in the Tri-Valley. Since then, it has distributed nearly 8 million free meals.
The organization has also expanded its reach to provide overnight shelter for those who are unhoused and/or in crisis.
“Over the past thirty years, Open Heart Kitchen has evolved from a humble, charity-driven effort into a justice-centered, infrastructure-building organization tackling the root causes of hunger and poverty,” Bost said in a statement.
One of OHK’s newest ventures is the Vineyard Resource Center in Livermore, which opened in January 2024.
As its name suggests, the site at 450 N. Livermore Ave. is a service hub. As a tenant, OHK provides the community meal program, the Open Heart Refuge overnight shelter and other essential services for individuals experiencing homelessness or food insecurity. The center is also the site of the nonprofit’s commercial kitchen operations.
In November, Open Heart Refuge grew from 20 to 30 beds, making it one of the largest year-round emergency shelters in Alameda County, according to OHK officials.
Throughout its first year, OHK served 114,468 community meals at Vineyard and provided 6,775 overnight stays, according to OHK officials. Clients also utilized 5,854 showers, 2,962 loads of laundry and other resources surrounding housing, employment and substance use.
“The numbers are always there,” Bost said. “What doesn’t show up on the stats are all the stories in between. There is a community here.”
“This shelter provides life-saving services, from a warm meal to a safe place to rest, reminding us that the smallest acts of kindness make a world of difference,” OHK volunteer Shelly Haynes added in a statement. “Those seeking support here are not defined by their struggles — they are parents, children, partners and friends, deserving of the same grace and understanding we’ve all received in life.”
Also this year, OHK celebrated the official launch of its food bank.
The 19,000-square-foot facility in Livermore allows for regional redistribution of food from the Oakland-based Alameda County Community Food Bank.
Five staff members are involved in running the food bank, but OHK aims to hire three additional employees for its operation.
Fully staffed, OHK can move through its food bank at least 3 million pounds of food annually. But in-action, the distribution amount depends on the food supply from ACCFB and the amount that pantries distribute.
Currently, the food bank distributes to sites including the Food Pantry at Muslim Community Center East Bay, the Graceland Food Pantry at Graceland International and the Interfaith Sharing Food Pantry at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church.
“We’ve spent years not just expanding programs but rethinking what it means to serve this community,” OHK chief financial officer Heather Greaux, Bost’s predecessor as executive director, said in a statement. “From stepping up during the pandemic to launching the Vineyard Resource Center, our team has pushed itself to the brink to meet the need, and I’m proud of how far we’ve come.”
Where’s the money?
During OHK’s 2025 fiscal year, which ended June 30, the organization anticipated receiving $850,000 through the “Community Project Funding” program also known as the “Congressionally Directed Spending” program.
The program was created in November 2021, with the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, according to the state of California website. Its intent is to support specific community projects as part of the annual appropriations process.
Procedurally, projects are selected by members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Then the scope and funding amount for each of the selected projects is written into law via the annual appropriations bill.
The federal program is funded from Oct. 1, 2022 through Sept. 30, 2027, according to the state website.
But Congress did not include any of the community projects in the continuing resolution passed earlier this year, according to Carly Sincavitch, policy adviser for U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Livermore).
“More specifically, given that Republicans have the majority in the House and Senate, they decided to not include (community project funding) in the final appropriations bills for FY25,” Sincavitch said. “The CPFs basically disappeared after not being included in the CR.”
In the case of OHK, the $850,000 never materialized, despite being among the applicants to receive a positive recommendation from the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, Sincavitch confirmed.
The unexpected shortfall represented 18% of OHK’s annual budget. OHK had no reason to believe the funds would fall through, as community project funding had been allocated annually since the 2022 federal fiscal year, according to Bost.
As a result, OHK was required to reduce its expenditures to maintain a balanced budget for the 2026 fiscal year.
As part of the budget reduction, OHK froze its plans to hire three additional employees for food bank operations — a warehouse manager and two additional assistants. Their absence has meant decreased efficiency at the food bank and added strain on local pantries to pick up food, Bost explained.
“Every impediment, in terms of operations for them, manifests in people getting less food and getting it less frequently,” Bost said of the downstream implications.
The community meal program at Vineyard has also been affected.
While individuals can still dine-in at Vineyard for four meals per day, the take-home limit has decreased on select days of the week.
Individuals can now take home two meals per day (Monday through Thursday), down from six meals. On Fridays, the limit remains at six to-go meals to make sure folks have enough food for the weekend, Bost said.
He hopes that this take-home meal reduction is short-lived.
OHK also shuttered its pop-up pantry program, which was a residual service from its response to the pandemic.
Despite the underlying cause being budget cuts, “It was a good pivot,” Bost explained, saying this way, OHK can focus on the food bank while pantries focus on distribution to the community.
To reach a balanced budget, OHK also had to pull from its reserve funds in what Bost described as a “Band-Aid fix”.
“Long story short, cuts made at the federal level have serious local consequences,” Bost said.
Following the realization that OHK would not receive the $850,000 grant, the nonprofit organized a matching campaign and successfully raised a combined total of $400,000 this year.
‘A storm coming’
As for the current fiscal year, OHK’s operating budget is $3.3 million, an amount that must be raised through individual donations, workplace matching, government grants and private, non-government grants.
Meanwhile, Medicaid and SNAP were cut as part of H.R. 1, better known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”.
“There is a storm brewing and a storm coming,” Bost said. “We are already struggling to make ends meet on the food distribution side.”
One source of funding could be the next round of congressionally directed community project awards, but Bost said receiving the applied-for $226,026 is a “long-shot”.
The new application is a resubmission from the 2025 federal fiscal year, Sincavitch said.
“Rep. Swalwell’s office submitted all FY25 CPFs that were still considered eligible for the FY26 process,” Swalwell’s spokesperson, Cassie Baloue, explained.
Since submission, OHK’s request was fully funded in the House Appropriations Committee Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, according to Baloue.
“We now have to wait for the bill to pass the House, the Senate and be signed into law by the President before this funding becomes enacted,” Baloue added.
While welcoming individual contributions to OHK, Bost believes that the responsibility of support lies in the government.
“Government at all of its levels – the public sector — is obligated and responsible to provide for basic human rights for its citizens,” Bost said. “I don’t think individuals and communities should have to be the cake. I think they should be the icing.”
It’s going to be financially tight, Bost added.
“We’ll find a way forward through this dark time, as we will meet the dark times ahead,” Bost said. “What’s the other option? Abandon the people who rely on us? Give in and give up? The stakes are too high.”
Through its financial difficulties, OHK is scheduled to host the Heart of the Tri-Valley Gala later this summer for its 30th anniversary.
This 1990s-themed event is set to include dinner, signature cocktails, auctions, entertainment and storytelling to celebrate OHK’s legacy.
The gala is important for face time and connection, according to Bost.
“With the funding challenges and uncertainty, raising money is more top of mind than in past years, where every little bit counts,” he said.
The gala is set for 6 p.m. on Sept. 5 at Casa Real Events Center at Ruby Hill Winery in Pleasanton. For more information about the gala and the nonprofit overall, visit openheartkitchen.org.
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