With all the holiday activities, a host of corporations, civic organizations, schools and places of worship made time to lend a hand and run the many food drives conducted during the end of the year. The food resources could not be processed if not for the energetic volunteers.

“I wanted to thank you for allowing my team to come and volunteer at the Food Bank this past Monday,” said one volunteer, Beth Townsend. Beth is an area manager at Exact Sciences Corporation. “We really appreciated being able to give back to our community and are in awe of all you do for our local community. You manage an incredible organization and we are so grateful to have been able to be part of your efforts.”

Kenny, the receiving manager at Albertsons, is committed to his food rescue partners, including the Valley Food Bank.

When you walk into your grocery store, you will find stocked shelves and bins full of fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy and bakery goods. Have you wondered what happens to those items once their best-use-by date nears? Rather than throw perfectly good food away, retailers donate unsold food items to the Valley Food Bank and its network of pantries, ensuring any surplus food goes to better use than the landfill.

“When our organization committed to Fresh Rescue Program, we knew we needed help,” said Kenny. “Our food rescue partners at the Valley Food Bank have done an amazing job helping us. A network of local organizations pick up from our store location each day our receiving department is open, and that is exactly what we needed.”

Through the Valley Food Bank, retailers—including Albertsons, Vons, Trader Joe’s, Target and Smart ‘n Final—help provide food for an average of 16,340 people each month.

These donations go straight from stores back to our warehouse for gleaning and get into the hands of people who would not be able to afford to go into a market and buy all that food. Not only are donations helping to feed people, but retailers are also helping the environment by not throwing that product away. It is one of the best business values retail stores can make; it is better than any recycling option.

Rescuing surplus food by donating it to the Valley Food Bank while it is still fresh can be more cost-effective than merely waiting to compost it. State regulations require businesses to recycle any excess food through composting or other programs. Donating food to the Food Bank fulfills this requirement for stores and also reduces the resource strain that tends to be associated with typical disposal. For instance, rather than paying hauling companies to pick up materials, the Food Bank accepts donations for free. So there we have the win–win: Folks get great food, the retailer gets a tax-deductible receipt, and the landfill is spared.

We talk to people all over the San Fernando Valley who are in need of some food assistance. Their stories are all different, and we are grateful to be able to help however we can. Here, the pastor at Power of God Church shares some testimonies from some neighbors he’s met recently:

We met Fuensanta and her two boys on the way to the market. She had told us she just lost her job, a job she so needed to help her husband. She also mentioned her paycheck would go for food so her family could eat. We stopped and told her about our community food pantry, and it was great to see her excited and appreciative. She told us: “I know you were God sent.”

We also met Maria who had been informed by a co-worker about our food ministry. The co-worker told her just in time, for she had been let go from her job. She kept saying continuously “Thank You, Lord, Thank You, Lord.” It is a big blessing to partner with the Valley Food Bank and to be able to help fight hunger right here in our own community. That was a highlight of the day. These are but two stories of the 103 families that were helped this last Saturday. Each received fresh fruits, vegetables, bakery goods, non-perishable dry goods, frozen meats, and many received toys for their children. This was a great day serving those in need.

Jakie Izarraral told us: “I am a single mother of three and trying to stretch my money as best as I can for food. I found out about the food pantry and showed up. Now because of it I can use my food budget on other much-needed necessities. I thank God there are people that think of others needs more than themselves. Thank you for caring for those who are less fortunate.”

Happy New Year! The Valley Food Bank accomplished much in 2019. While the challenges associated with hunger and food insecurity remains, we were able to process more than $12,000,000 worth of food resources, which we could not have done without you. 2020 is looking to be a year of growth and realignment as we strive to meet the changing needs of our community.

After participating in a host of round table discussions and tours by other non-profits, we have spent a great deal of time evaluating our delivery of services and resources. While other non-profits and food organizations look to us as a model, we remain committed to continuous improvement to best serve our clients and our partner agencies.

We started thinking differently about the way we approach our work and the value we bring to every pantry we serve. Instead of focusing on independent programs, we wondered what would happen if we took a more holistic approach to the unique needs of each of our distribution sites and worked closely with our partners to determine the best use of our food resources and other necessities.

We realize that, outside of food, our greatest resource is the relationships that we have built and fostered over many years. Those relationships are many, and include food pantry coordinators, volunteers, donors, elected officials, civic organizations, businesses, other non-profit agencies, and the thousands who seek our services.

We anticipate that some will not find an organizational restructure very exciting, but to us it is a prime example of how our food bank is constantly looking at ways we can best steward the resources entrusted to us to have the greatest impact on the most people. We are optimistic about this new approach to our work and what it will mean for the communities we serve. Thank you for supporting our work in the past and trusting you will continue to be a partner throughout this New Year.
Thank you for Fighting Hunger and Feeding Hope for these… and so many others.