Thirteen years ago, our founder, Dr. Carol Weyland Conner, held a remarkable belief: that love could be organized. Not boxed in or made rigid, but given a structure strong enough to say yes, move quickly, and flow wherever it was needed most.
On October 7, we saw that belief in full bloom.
Our fourth annual Love in Action Celebration filled The Gardens at Heather Farm in Walnut Creek with 150 volunteers, donors, and partners. WPE-blue tablecloths and fresh floral arrangements set the scene. A live band played while guests mingled by windows overlooking the rose garden, sharing good food and the kind of conversation that reminds you why this work matters.
“The way we grow matters more than how much we grow,” CEO Eve Birge told the room. The past year’s numbers are remarkable: the equivalent of 4.2 million meals rescued, reaching 135,000 neighbors through 144 nonprofit partners and 2,000 volunteers. But the heart of the story, Eve said, is always a person. She shared the words of Jill, who shops at a WPE pantry in a senior housing community and has watched her neighbors grow stronger with fresh, healthy food on their tables. “I’ve seen members who live here get healthier,” Jill said.
That person-first spirit came alive when Sandro and Marjori Trujillo of RR Ministries took the podium. Their bilingual church in Antioch has been a WPE recipient partner since April 2022. What began with 60 to 80 families now serves more than 250 families every week.
Marjori named something we hold close: “A meal can open the door to something deeper. Friendship, love, and belonging.” In Antioch, she said, that door has opened wide. “We are more than a food distribution. We are a family. We are a village. We are a community.”
Walker Lambert, spiritual director of Sufism Reoriented and a dear friend of Dr. Conner, carried us back to the beginning. He honored the pioneering volunteers who first turned her vision into action and reminded us that the same devotion lives on in today’s staff and volunteers. The love that started it all hasn’t faded. It has multiplied.
Guests were also the first to see a new short film honoring our past and welcoming what comes next. Eve shared the three promises at the center of our 2027–2029 Strategic Plan: to nourish communities, multiply our impact, and build to scale without ever losing our heart. Structure was never meant to contain love, she said. It is what lets love travel farther.
The most poignant moment of the night belonged to longtime volunteer Mandy Nakaya. Over the years, Mandy has served WPE in many roles, most notably as our volunteer coordinator, welcoming countless people into this work. As she accepted a beautiful floral arrangement and crystal plaque reading “Leading with love, giving without measure” the entire room rose to its feet. It was a fitting tribute to someone whose service embodies those words.
Then the paddles went up. Led by our friend Mischa Rutenberg, guests gave generously to keep WPE’s trucks moving seven days a week, rescuing exceptional food and delivering it to neighbors within hours.
Thank you to everyone who joined us, raised a paddle, and keeps putting love into action alongside our volunteers, food donors, and nonprofit partners. If you couldn’t be with us, there’s still a place for you in this circle.
This is all of us taking care of all of us.