From its founding 43 years ago, Mercy Brown Bag has always been about seniors caring for their elderly neighbors in need. No one exemplifies the spirit of Brown Bag better than long-time employee Miguel Magallan, pictured here.
Mercy Brown Bag is a community-based food security program dedicated to serving low-income older adults across the San Francisco East Bay by providing access to nutritious groceries, volunteer support, and consistent food distribution programs that help seniors live with dignity and care.
Celebrating 35 years with Mercy Brown Bag in August 2025, Miguel started in 1980 when he would drive a flatbed truck from Mercy Retirement and Care Center (MRCC), headquartered in Oakland, California, to the Central Valley of California each week to glean fruits and vegetables.
Accompanied by a van filled with seniors and nuns from MRCC, they would sing as they harvested artichokes, garlic, bell peppers, or apricots, stopping only to enjoy a picnic lunch in the field. Together, they would load pallets and totes onto Miguel’s truck, securing the produce with a tarp. As they made their way back along the narrow Highway 17 from Watsonville or Santa Cruz, they would stop at food pantries along the route and exchange their harvest, trading for a variety of fruits and vegetables to include in the bags distributed to hungry seniors back home in the East Bay.
In those early days, Miguel and his band of seniors typically fed about 500 low-income older adults. As word of this community service spread, Mercy Brown Bag grew to serve more than 10,000 food-insecure seniors across the East Bay, providing fresh, healthy groceries twice each month from its distribution warehouses.
Miguel’s perspective is simple: “With Brown Bag, you have to do whatever is needed to get the food to those in need.” The team working at Mercy Brown Bag today continues to follow Miguel’s example, coming together to do whatever is needed to support the community they serve.
As FY25 came to a close, Miguel retired after decades of devoted service to the community. Yet his legacy continues. Next month, he will return to help train new Community Coordinators and Drivers, passing along the standards of excellence, dedication, and compassion that he helped establish over many years with Mercy Brown Bag.