The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank’s CEO, James Floros, was re-elected Board Chair of the California Association of Food Banks at a meeting of its Board of Directors.The California Association of Food Banks (CAFB) is an association of 41 member food banks across the State of California. The CAFB advocates for California’s food banks at the state and federal level and provides its member food banks with a range of support services and direct service programs.Each year, the CAFB distributes more than 160 million pounds of fresh produce to its network of member food banks across the state through its flagship Farm to Family Program. The program prevents so-called “ugly produce,” that does not meet strict food retailer size and appearance guidelines, from going to waste by redirecting it to the state’s food banks for distribution to Californians in need.The CAFB actively advocates at the state and federal level for anti-hunger legislation and hunger-relief programs. Among its recent legislative successes, CAFB led efforts to create the state’s CalFood Program that provides tens of millions of pounds of California-produced food to the state’s food banks. The CAFB successfully advocated for polices to streamline CalFresh administration and enrollment, and co-sponsored legislation to prevent food waste by establishing state liability protections for food donors.The CAFB’s Executive Director Sue Sigler said, “As a nonprofit CEO with 35 years of experience, Jim brings a wealth of strategic management, fundraising, operations, and board development experience with him. We are delighted to have Jim continue to lead our Board of Directors as we expand our programs and services to our member food banks and advocate at the state and federal level.”Commenting on his re-election, James Floros said, “Millions of Californians who face food insecurity rely on the CAFB and its member food banks to put food on the table. The CAFB plays a critical support role for food banks across the state through its Farm to Family Program and advocacy work. I am honored and humbled to take on such an important leadership role at the CAFB and look forward to helping the CAFB continue to operate from a position of strength.”Since being appointed CEO of the San Diego Food Bank, Floros has presided over a major expansion of its programs, cutting-edge facility improvements, and an increase in the number of people served by the Food Bank every month.In 2015, Floros led the San Diego Food Bank’s acquisition of the North County Food Bank which has since doubled the amount of food it distributes to North County communities and is feeding thousands more families in need every month.In 2016, Floros received the Nonprofit CEO of the Year Award from the San Diego Business Journal. And he currently serves as Vice President of the County of San Diego Social Services Advisory BoardFloros will continue to lead the CAFB’s Board of Directors in maintaining oversight of CAFB’s operations and will help its CEO and policy team represent its membership at the state and federal level.
