LOCAL MAYORS HAVE JOINED 2ND HARVEST FOOD BANK IN APPEALING FOR FOOD AND CASH TO MAKE SURE SANTA CRUZ AND SAN BENITO COUNTIES RESIDENTS HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT THIS WINTER. IN APPEARANCES AT LAST FRIDAY'S "FILL THE BUS EVENT", SCOTTS VALLEY MAYOR STEPHANY AGUILAR, SANTA CRUZ MAYOR CYNTHIA MATHEWS, CAPITOLA MAYOR DENNIS NORTON, WATSONVILLE MAYOR ANTONIO RIVAS AND WATSONVILLE VICE MAYOR MANUEL BERSAMIN ALL LENT THEIR TIME AND THEIR SUPPORT TO COLLECTING OVER 440,000 POUNDS OF FOOD AND CASH EQUIVALENT FOR THE HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE. DESPITE THIS HERCULEAN EFFORT, THE 2ND HARVEST FOOD DRIVE IS STILL THOUSANDS OF POUNDS AND DOLLARS BEHIND ITS GOAL. AREA RESIDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO DONATE FOOD AT LOCAL FIRE STATIONS, LIBRARIES, COAST COMMERCIAL BANKS AND GOODWILL DONATION STATIONS UNTIL DECEMBER 31ST. FINANCIAL DONATIONS CAN BE MADE ONLINE AT WWW.THEFOODBANK.ORG OR BY MAILING A CHECK TO SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK, P.O. BOX 990, WATSONVILLE, CA 95077.