Eileen Li

The San Francisco Food Bank exists to provide food to nearly 150,000 people in San Francisco who live with the threat of hunger. Since October 2006, Eileen has volunteered over 200 hours. Rain or shine, she has been coming to the Food Bank week after week. Eileen's responsibilities include supplying volunteer break room with drinks, moving pallets to accommodate other volunteer work space, packing boxes full of cereal, milk, vegetable, juice, pasta, and tuna for senior citizens and packing tomatoes, egg rolls, rice, breads, cans, apples, and corns.

In 2003, the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women released the groundbreaking study "A Report on Girls in San Francisco: Benchmarks for the Future," representing a committed effort by the Commission on the Status of Women to conduct analysis as the first step to advancing sound public policy that meets the needs of women and girls. To support those first steps, the Commission on the Status of Women formed a Girls Committee in 2006. Eileen Li was selected from hundreds of applicants from San Francisco schools to become a founding member of the City and County of San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women's Girls Committee.

Since then, Eileen has been leading youth programs and initiatives in the City of San Francisco. These initiatives include supporting events related to girls' issues. For example, Eileen gave an open talk to encourage young people to express themselves at the UC San Francisco's Youth Women's Health Summit, in addition to her heavy involvement with organizing and publicizing the event. At the Marin Institute Press Conference against Alcopops, an alcohol drink deceitfully advertised to under-aged girls, Eileen spoke passionately about the cost of Alcopops to Youth and California to raise awareness against Alcopops. As a result of her advocacy and widely recognized efforts of the Girls Committee, the Act to Restrict Youth Access to Youth-Friendly Alcohol Drinks was passed. The result is clearer labeling and larger warnings.

Eileen is charismatic, thoughtful, intelligent, thorough, and detail-oriented. She is active in every aspect of the Commission on the Status of Women's Girls committee. She has chaired monthly meetings, writes resolutions, and researches girls' issues. She makes phone calls and writes emails regarding meetings and reaching out to S.A.C. Executive Board for further outreach to schools in the city. Eileen has influenced and inspired young people from elementary to high schools to affect positive changes. For the Girls Committee's first ever Youth Service Directory, Eileen demonstrated her multiple talents most ably—as the cover designer, graphic artist, poet, game creator, and title page designer. She and others on the Committee even got Fiona Ma, a California State Assemblywoman, to sponsor the printing of over 5,000 copies in full color. When the Directory is completed in February 2008, it will be distributed to all schools in the City of San Francisco as a service and resource book.