Stories that Inspire.
Victories to Celebrate.
Stay connected with all the good work the Rescue Mission Alliance Valley Food Bank is doing.
Hopeful That Better Times are Ahead
With reports that the economy is strong, it can be difficult to comprehend why millions of Americans continue to receive support from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), often referred to as food stamps. According to the USDA, most SNAP recipients who can work, do work. Ann and her son are one of many working…
Pantry Provides Relief For Struggling Family
When Judy’s husband Bob lost his job as a civil engineer during the downturn in the economy, all the air was let out of the family’s financial balloon. A one-income family with two teen children, Bob and Judy quickly burned through their savings while he looked in vain for work in his field. Judy took…
Stamping Out Hunger With the Help of Letter Carriers
Each year, the food bank is blessed to partner with the local members of the National Letter Carriers Union and receive non-perishable food items picked-up by the letter carriers on their routes. A lot of extra work for them, but gleefully these workers collect the equivalent of four truckloads in a three-hour period. The count…
Dreamworks Helps Make Holiday Dreams Come True
What started as a routine food drive to help the community has blossomed into a very competitive department drive generating thousands of new food resources and the largest cash contributors to our annual Turkey Drive. The driving force behind this very successful endeavor is Mark Taylor, Head of Production for DreamWorks Animation Television division. A…
Pantry Continues Serving Thanks To Food Bank’s Help
“The Food Pantry at our Granada Hills church began as a project within the Outreach Committee and has been in continuous operation for well over 25 years. In its early years of operation, it was supported only by weekly donations of food resources from the parishioners attending Sunday services. As time went on, weekly donations…
Special People Making Lives Better
Barry and Diane celebrated their 40th year of marriage in June, memorializing it months earlier with a colorful remarriage ceremony in a Masai village in Kenya. The happy couple wore traditional Masai ceremonial dress, enjoying the festivities with their good friends and the entire Masai village as their wedding guests. In 1975, Barry began and…
It’s More Than Teamwork—It’s a Passion
For some it has been eight years, others their first year volunteering at the Rescue Mission Alliance Valley Food Bank. They work as a team—some have specific tasks that they enjoy doing, others fill-in wherever they are needed—but all have a passion to ensure good, nutritious food resources are processed and distributed to those in…
Director’s Note
It is hard to believe, but the new year has arrived. We remain in awe and humbled at all that was accomplished this past year with the help of 7,584 volunteers, representing 39,259 hours! Each day is unique onto itself not knowing the blessings that will be sent our way, of the love and compassion…
A Meal Serves As A Reminder Of The Reason For The Season
Imagine waking up on Christmas morning knowing you cannot provide a Christmas meal for your family. While most are unwrapping presents and enjoying a special day together, some are facing a Christmas with nothing at all. The holidays are a time of joy for most families, but when you have no food, you are more…
Recipient Could Be You Or Me
We may think that only the unemployed or homeless use food pantries, but that simply is not true, according to Will Hernandez, Director of the Rescue Mission Alliance Valley Food Bank. “We are seeing increasing numbers of working families, commonly known as the working poor,” he said. In addition, the majority of seniors were found…
Finding Hope, Help Through A Challenging Time
Leona came to our Food Ministry after finding us in the Pennysaver. She is a mother of three children, and a grandmother of six. Leona had depended on her father to help with the rent and food after her husband deserted her and the children. She had no job. When her father died, she lost…
Hot Meals, Compassionate Conversation Provide Nourishment For Family
“After years of street ministry, it no longer surprises me when I receive a message on my cell from a person whom we have befriended. Yet, last week when I received a text from Tresa, I could not help but to be surprised. See, Tresa was inviting my wife Betty and me to her graduation at…
