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Mount Zion MBC, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Partner to Bring 29,000 Meals to Alameda County

OAKLAND POST — A semi-truckload of food arrived at MZMBC in Oakland on Tuesday, July 21. This was one of 250 trucks the LDS church is sending throughout the United States. By the end of the year 10 million pounds of food will be donated. Each truck carries approximately 40,000 pounds of shelf-stable pantry staples that can feed 1,400 families for one week.

Published

3 months ago

July 26, 2026

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Pastor Michael Wallace of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church (center) and David Kimball, president of the Oakland Stake of the LDS church listen to remarks before volunteers began their work. “We are grateful to partner with these organizations to help care for those in need in our community,” Kimball later told the assembled volunteers. Courtesy photo.

By Special to The Post

The interfaith community effort commemorates the 250th anniversary of the U.S.

More than 29,000 meals were received and distributed at the historic Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in West Oakland as part of an interfaith community effort to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States.

The Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB), Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church (MZMBC), and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) partnered to address food insecurity throughout Alameda County.

A semi-truckload of food arrived at MZMBC in Oakland on Tuesday, July 21. This was one of 250 trucks the LDS church is sending throughout the United States. By the end of the year 10 million pounds of food will be donated. Each truck carries approximately 40,000 pounds of shelf-stable pantry staples that can feed 1,400 families for one week.

Pastor Michael Wallace of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church provides instruction as volunteers unpack pallets of food to be distributed. “We believe that having food is a basic human right and to address it is our Christian duty,” Wallace said. “That’s what makes this partnership so meaningful.” Courtesy photo.

The need for food is significant. According to the ACCFB, 1 in 4 members of the community they serve is experiencing or at risk of hunger.

“The challenges get much harder during the summer when children no longer have access to healthy meals at school,” says Regi Young, executive director of Alameda County Community Food Bank. “Our community and our food bank face similar challenges accessing some of the highest quality and high demand foods because they are typically also the most expensive.

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee speaks at the JustServe event.

“Fresh milk is among the top items on these lists, so we are extremely grateful for this donation to help more families stretch their budgets and get through these challenging summer months,” Young said.

Two days later, on July 23, another semi-truck, this one bearing fresh milk from the LDS church, arrived at the ACCFB.
Event organizers share a commitment to caring for those in need and fostering meaningful service connections within communities.

“After 250 years, there is still food insecurity in America, and this is an interfaith community effort to eradicate hunger in our communities and cities,” said Pastor Michael Wallace of Mount Zion. “We believe that having food is a basic human right and to address it is our Christian duty. That’s what makes this partnership so meaningful.”

“Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in following the Savior’s commandments to love God and to love our neighbor,” says David Kimball, president of the Oakland Stake of the LDS church. “We are grateful to partner with these organizations to help care for those in need in our community.”

Word Assembly First Lady Denise Clark, left, joined Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church First Lady Velma Wallace at the food distribution site, where the first of the 250 truckloads of food LDS will provide to places across the country was distributed. Courtesy photo.

Welcoming the truck’s arrival at 10 a.m. at MZMBC were Kimball, Young, Wallace of MZMBC, and civil rights activist and Post News Group Publisher Paul Cobb. Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee was in attendance and addressed the hundreds of volunteers. Inspiring music was provided by members of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir under the leadership of Terrance Kelly.

Teens from both churches were on hand to assist with loading food items for various local nonprofits and community groups to distribute to those in need. The teens also assembled 1,000 hygiene kits for the unhoused. Each kit will include a note of encouragement written by the children and youth of each church.
The churches and organizations that received food include:

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church
ECAP (Emeryville Citizens Assistance Program)
Support Life Foundation/Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC)
Serenity House
CRECE (Central American Refugee Committee)
ION (Impact Oakland Now -Word Assembly, Center of Hope and Abyssinian Baptist Church)
True Faith Baptist Church (East Oakland)

“These two large shipments of food and milk, along with this interfaith, community event, exemplify the spirit of volunteerism and community service that this country was built on,” says Gregg Ankenman, assistant director of Community Service for the Oakland/San Francisco Communication Council of the LDS Church.

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Trader Vic’s Returns to Its Oakland Roots

Trader Vic’s, the internationally recognized brand and birthplace of the original Mai Tai, has officially returned to its roots in Oakland. Originally founded in 1934 on San Pablo Avenue before moving to Emeryville, the hospitality giant has launched Trader Vic’s Outpost at Oakland International Airport’s Terminal 2. The new full-service location offers travelers breakfast, lunch, dinner, and cocktails in a 108-seat space designed to celebrate the city’s status as a top national food destination. Visit the website to read more.

Published

6 days ago

October 19, 2026

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Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee cuts the ribbon at the official opening of Trader Vic’s Outpost and Plum Market at Oakland International Airport. She is assisted by U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon as Port of Oakland Board President Stephanie Dominguez Walton, left, and representatives from Trader Vic's, Plum Market, look on. Photo courtesy of the mayor’s office.

By Special to The Post

Oakland has always been a city of innovators, entrepreneurs, visionaries, and world-class hospitality. Trader Vic’s—the birthplace of the original Mai Tai – first opened in Oakland back in 1934 on San Pablo Avenue, long before becoming an internationally recognized global brand.

More than 50 years after it moved to Emeryville, Trader Vic’s is returning to its roots. Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee touts the return as another victory for Oakland.

“My administration is deeply committed to backing businesses like Trader Vic’s and Plum Market—partners who invest in our city, uplift our local workforce, and support thousands of local jobs,” Lee said.

The latest Trader Vic’s – called Trader Vic’s Outpost – is located at the Oakland International Airport in Terminal 2 near Gate 25 and had a soft opening in August.

With 108 dining seats, 28 bar seats and a counter for standing-room customers, travelers from around the world can have a full-service restaurant and bar experience or take-out for those with planes to catch.

Open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails will be served.

Trader Vic’s returning to its roots confirms Condé Nast’s decision to name Oakland the #1 Food City in America two years in a row, and just earlier this month, ranked Oakland #6 on their list of Best Cities in the U.S.!

“The opening at OAK is incredibly meaningful for us,” said Rhett Rosen, CEO of Trader Vic’s Hospitality Group, according to the company website. “Trader Vic’s was born in the Bay Area, and this new location gives us the chance to welcome travelers with a taste of that original spirit before they take off. It brings together everything people love about Trader Vic’s — great cocktails, flavorful food, warm hospitality and a little sense of escape — in a place that connects Oakland to the world.”

Trader Vic’s is an Oakland institution and one of the region’s most recognizable hospitality brands, said Port of Oakland Director of Aviation Craig Simon on the web site.

“Travelers are increasingly seeking dining options that are memorable, locally rooted, and uniquely representative of the communities they are visiting. Trader Vic’s delivers all of that while providing a high-quality food and beverage experience for our guests. We are proud to welcome this hometown favorite to Terminal 2,”

The original Trader Vic’s in Oakland:

In 1934, with an investment of $500, Bergeron opened his initially small restaurant at 65th Avenue and San Pablo, serving comfort foods for lunch and dinner and beers and whiskeys. As his clientele grew, so did his restaurant, expanding space and menu options. After visiting this establishment, famed San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen proclaimed that the “best restaurant in San Francisco is in Oakland.”

There were as many as 25 franchises worldwide, including the U.S. Trader Vic’s is now headquartered in Martinez.

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Oakland Coal Terminal Backed by Trump Would Be Bigger, Dirtier Than Promised, Says Report

A recent feasibility study commissioned by potential investors says an Oakland coal terminal backed by President Donald Trump could export 13 million tons a year — three times the amount estimated in an earlier environmental review. Surprisingly, the report also contradicts devel

Published

6 days ago

October 19, 2026

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East Bay residents have been fighting alongside No Coal in Oakland for more than a decade. Photo courtesy of No Coal in Oakland.

By Post Staff

Surprisingly, the report also contradicts developers’ and project advocates’ repeated pledges that the coal would be stored in a covered terminal. Instead, the millions of tons of coal shipped annually from inland states to the West Gateway terminal in Oakland would be stored in “two open-air bunkers,” with about 150,000 tons of coal per stockpile, before being sent overseas, according to the recent report cited by the L.A. Times. (https://ruic.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Port-Study-RUIC-Bulk-Commodity-Ocean-Terminals-Study.pdf)

Residents and clean air advocates have long expressed concerns that coal dust would worsen pollution in West Oakland and throughout the East Bay.

The proposed site of the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (OBOT) is located at the former Army base near the Port of Oakland, which developer Phil Tagami has been trying for years to turn into a shipping terminal despite determined community opposition.

Trump announced a $75-million investment in the project in June, about a third of its estimated cost. The new terminal would be the largest coal export site on the West Coast, transporting coal to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia, according to the Trump administration.

Opponents say a new terminal would undermine years of progress cleaning up the air in West Oakland, which has a history of disproportionate pollution and high asthma rates due to its proximity to the port and other industry.

According to No Coal in Oakland organizer Ted Franklin, who has been active for 11 years in the fight to stop the coal terminal, the report indicates that investors may be looking for a cheaper way to build the terminal.

“We were shocked but not surprised” by the report, Franklin said. “Basically, it seems that the plan now is to store open piles of coal, which is a less expensive project than creating a completely enclosed facility.”

The threats that the project poses are real, but it faces a lot of economic and legal hurdles, he said.

Coal production is in permanent decline worldwide, he said, wondering who was going to “invest money in an industry that has no future.”

Further, the project has not yet attracted big investors. “There’s no bank, no financing, no financial institution backing this,” he continued.

A major legal hurdle facing the project is the passage of Assemblymember Mia Bonta’s bill, AB 40, the Community-First Coal Review Act, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 30.

The law requires developers of large-volume bulk coal facilities to complete a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) before they can operate.

The law was specifically designed to block or delay the coal terminal project.

The report to potential developers was produced by consulting groups Norda Stelo and Wood Mackenzie in July and released this month. It was commissioned by the Rural Utah Infrastructure Coalition, made up of eight Utah counties that are considering investing about $43 million into the terminal to receive Utah coal.

The consultants produced their findings after visiting Oakland, examining engineering documents and holding discussions with Savage Cos., a Utah-based transport and logistics company selected to operate the facility

Research has shown that coal terminal operations can be dangerous to public health. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach moved away from open-air coal and petroleum coke storage three decades ago.

The report says that the site could process 12 million metric tons, or 13.2 million tons, of coal each year, three times more than the terminal’s approved environmental impact report from 2002 and its 2012 addendum. Neither document mentions coal specifically, but rather bulk commodities.

The coal arriving in Oakland could also be dirtier then had been previously stated, according to the report. Project officials previously said the terminal would handle only high-grade western bituminous coal from Utah, but the recent report says it will also handle Powder River Basin coal from Wyoming and Montana, known to be much dustier.

Nor does the report mention plans to cover the rail cars to prevent pollution, though project officials previously promised they would only utilize coal transported in covered rail cars.

“It appears the developers want to build something much bigger and more polluting than anything they previously revealed, either in court or to the West Oakland community,” said Colin O’Brien, deputy managing attorney at the nonprofit Earthjustice, speaking to the L.A. Times.

The report indicates that the project may be much more expensive and take longer to complete than anticipated. The Energy Department estimates the terminal will cost about $231 million, but the report places the price at between $430 million and $625 million.

The terminal will take 53 months to complete according to the report, significantly longer than Trump’s promise of exports beginning in 2028.

Ted Franklin’s column, “Utah Study Blesses Investment in Oakland Coal Terminal but Leaves Key Questions Unanswered” is available at https://nocoalinoakland.info/utah-study-blesses-investment-in-oakland/