11/10/2025
2025 Year in Review. OC Food Box Program
A Shared Community Initiative of the Bristol & Bates Foundation and the James Mai Foundation
Built on a shared mission to serve, uplift, and strengthen communities, the Bristol & Bates Foundation and the James Mai Foundation stood side-by-side in 2025 to support Orange County families through the OC Food Box Program. Rooted in compassion, dignity, and community trust, this initiative delivered more than nourishment; it delivered stability, reassurance, and care. This work was done quietly, without spotlight or spectacle, and guided by a simple ethic: show up, take care of people, repeat, week after week.
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15,000+ Families Served Across 30+ Orange County Cities
This year, more than 15,000 families received food support across 30+ cities. spanning from Irvine to Santa Ana, Anaheim to San Clemente, Garden Grove to Mission Viejo, and beyond. Our work met people where they were, delivering directly and discreetly to homes, community spaces, trusted local partners, and workplaces.
That means nearly 290 families every week, or about 1,250 every month, the equivalent of feeding an entire neighborhood, week in and week out, all year long.
We delivered to:
✅ Homebound seniors
✅ Veterans and military families
✅ Teachers and school staff
✅ Restaurant and service workers
✅ Students, young families, and single parents
✅ Churches, shelters, outreach groups, and neighborhood hubs
No lines. No barriers. No judgment. Just service.
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Did You Know Who We Serve & Support?
Many of the individuals and families supported through this program would never ask for help publicly, yet quietly carry the weight of rising costs, health challenges, or unexpected hardship. By working closely with faith leaders, civic volunteers, food banks, schools, grassroots networks, and community connectors, we ensured support reached people with respect, privacy, and dignity. Whether delivered to a senior’s doorstep, a teacher after school, a veteran through a community network, or a family through a local partner, this program was built for the unseen, the hardworking, and the quietly resilient.
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Community-Powered Impact — 3,500+ Volunteer Hours
This initiative was powered by community in its truest form. In 2025, more than 3,500 volunteer hours fueled every packed box, every coordinated delivery, and every organized outreach effort. Importantly, many who led and coordinated this work were once in need themselves, serving not for recognition but because service is their calling, and they are paying it forward. This was a community effort at its most sincere, grassroots, heart-led, and shared.
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A Special Thank You
To our extraordinary volunteers and volunteer leaders, thank you for giving your time, energy, and hearts. To our community partners, food banks, local farms, manufacturers, distributors, and restaurant partners, thank you for donating food, goods, and meals to make this mission possible. We did this door-by-door, hand-by-hand, entirely through volunteerism.
This impact was not created by a single voice or organization, but by a community that met urgency with compassion and need with action. We are inspired by you, humbled by you, and forever grateful to serve alongside you.
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A Shared Truth
One food box can feed a family, but a community that feeds one another can change lives for generations.
In 2025, through the Bristol & Bates Foundation and the James Mai Foundation, we delivered more than meals; we delivered hope, dignity, and the message that no one in our community stands alone.
