community spotlight: dine11 sf These family friendships, forged at SFFS, have lasted years—and grown into something even greater in the face of crisis. by Jenny Johnston, SFFS Parent ‘28
It was March 2020, the beginning of COVID-19 shutdowns, when Nikki Pearl started firing off emails. A wellness consultant and SFFS alumni parent, Pearl and her daughter had spent time transporting meals for Dine11, an LA nonprofit that purchases meals from Los Angeles restaurants hit hard by the pandemic and delivers them to frontline health workers. Those deliveries sparked an idea. Why not launch a similar effort in San Francisco? In her emails, Pearl pitched her idea, asking for help. Three people stepped up. All three—Katie Morford, Frances Sanahuja, and Lourdes Cordero—were fellow SFFS moms. Working quickly, the four women put their backgrounds in finance, marketing, nutrition, wellness, and motherhood to work in organizing the effort. Dine11 SF would be similar to the LA model, but focus instead on feeding hungry families in at-risk neighborhoods. “We wanted to get meals into the hands page 7
