"Most of us take for granted the ready availability of food in our homes, but there are a great many people for whom that's simply not the case," said Marianne O'Connor, Sterling's president and CEO. "Everyone at Sterling found this food drive extremely gratifying; we got to reach out to the community and spend time together in a very different capacity from our daily work tasks."

‘Sterlingers' from the Los Gatos and San Francisco offices volunteered food, time and money to support Bay Area families in conjunction with the Second Harvest and San Francisco food banks. Both offices sponsored a three-week food drive, and received such generous and enthusiastic support from the other tenants in its buildings that 1,283 pounds of non-perishable food items were collected. As an agency, Sterling also contributed $200 to each organization. In addition, each office volunteered time the week prior to Thanksgiving in a hands-on community outreach activity; Los Gatos employees distributed food to families while San Francisco employees cleaned and repackaged manufacturer donations.

Along with a handful of other volunteers, Los Gatos-based Sterlingers distributed approximately 13,200 pounds of groceries to more than 120 families at Rosemary School in Campbell, which serves as a distribution site for the South Bay. That same week, San Francisco-based Sterlingers, along with another corporate group and individuals, cleaned and labeled more than 1,750 pounds of food, which equates to 1,400 meals for San Franciscans this holiday season.

"Many folks don't realize that one in five adults in San Francisco face the threat of hunger and we are always in need of hands-on help from all members of the community, including corporate organizations," said Sam Marcum, volunteer services coordinator at the San Francisco Food Bank. "We enjoyed having Sterling spend the afternoon with us to help support our cause of ending hunger in San Francisco."

Sterling Communications has a history of giving back to the community, including donating a portion of its monthly profits to the Humane Society in the wake of last year's Hurricane Katrina. Sterling also hosts an employee program that includes quarterly community outreach activities, and during its agency wide winter summit later this week, will be assembling emergency hygiene kits for the Bay Area's homeless and distressed individuals and families.

About Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties
A member of America's Second Harvest, a national food distribution network, Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties is a private non-profit organization that collects and distributes more than 30 million pounds of food each year. Through its network of 290 community based, non-profit organizations operating food assistance programs through 800 distribution sites, it currently serves an average of 162,000 people each month; the majority are low-income families and senior citizens. For more information, please visit http://www.2ndharvest.net.

About San Francisco Food Bank
The San Francisco Food Bank's mission is to end hunger in San Francisco. It works toward that goal by distributing food and advocating for improvement in government food programs and policies. A nationwide network of food suppliers allows the Food Bank to turn each dollar donated into $9 of non-perishable groceries, fresh produce, bread and meat for the community. A member of America's Second Harvest, the San Francisco Food Bank supplies food to more than 500 non-profit, anti-hunger programs, from senior centers and after-school programs to soup kitchens, reaching tens of thousands of individuals each month. This year, the Food Bank will distribute 26 million pounds of food, enough food to provide more than 55,000 meals to hungry San Franciscans every day. For more information, please visit http://www.sffoodbank.org/.

About Sterling Communications, Inc.
Sterling Communications, Inc. - the Inside AgencySM - is an independent, full-service public relations agency that provides industry-leading technology companies with strategic communications counsel and tactical expertise. The agency's client roster includes providers of Internet infrastructure software, e-business platforms, telecommunications, wireless, mobile and networking solutions, digital video, interactive media, consumer technology and healthcare technologies. Founded in 1989, the company is headquartered in Silicon Valley, with additional offices in San Francisco and Seattle. More information can be found at http://www.sterlingpr.com.