Valley Food Bank

Helping the Homeless


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Glenn Dedicates Post-Retirement Life To Service

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When Glenn closed down his tree-service business seven years ago, he didn’t quite retire. His desire to give back to his community—and beyond—was strong, and he immediately increased his volunteerism through his church, Shepherd Church in Porter Ranch.

“I figure, I’ve earned my money in life with my business, so now my wife and I are focused on serving people from all kinds of walks of lives,” Glenn said. “It’s unbelievable the satisfaction you get in your heart. I’m more than happy to do it.” A little over a year ago, Glenn was trying to raise money for a mission trip to Tecate, Mexico, where he was helping out a school for deaf and mute children. “There was some devastation in Texas at the time, and people were helping to relieve that crisis,” Glenn said. “I didn’t receive any money for my trip. But a friend connected me with Will at the Valley Food Bank, and he helped me put together a pallet of food and drinks for the kids. I told them when I left, ‘When I get back, I’ll be serving with you guys.’”

Glenn kept his word and has been volunteering at the food bank Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for more than a year now. “When I got back, I came in and they showed me the various things they needed done, from repacking food that comes in to sweeping floors. I’ve met so many volunteers from different businesses, schools, churches—some of the guys I work with have been there for years. Some were caught up in drinking or drugs, and they got out of all that and are now serving. The camaraderie that’s built when all these people are coming together is incredible.”

Being able to witness how the food bank helps those in need in the community has been inspiring, Glenn said. “It’s just phenomenal the amount of food that comes in and goes out to the homeless and to the various charities. They do an incredible job. It’s fantastic the way they organize this thing.”

Glenn has been married for 46 years, and has two daughters and two grandchildren. He lives in Mission Hills. “It’s in my heart to do this—it’s just a calling I have,” Glenn said. “I’ve gained things in my life, and I have time on my hands now. I have a giving heart. If someone is in need, I give to them what I can, help them out in any way. It’s rewarding in my life to help people. It’s about being the hands and feet of God.”

Valley Food Bank welcomes new truck to its fleet

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What does an anaerobic digestion system in San Luis Obispo have to do with providing food for our hungry neighbors in the San Fernando Valley? An email from the Grant Farm to Director Will Hernandez at the Valley Food Bank on February 1, 2017 would start us asking that question—and begin to provide the answer as well. Hitachi Zosen Inova U.S.A. LLC / Kompogas-SLO Inc. was developing an application to California Climate Investments/CalRecycle for funding under the Organics Grant Program to develop a high-solids anaerobic digestions system designed to meet the organics diversion goals of San Luis Obispo County. The digestion system in SLO will be able to process 100 tons of organic waste each day.

As part of the application process, HZIU/Kombogas-SLO was looking to include a Food Waste Prevention Program that diverts edible food destined for a landfill and redistributes it to hungry people. And, Valley Food Bank met that need.

They also found the Valley Food Bank lies in the service territory of a Waste Connections landfill—Chiquita Canyon in this case. And, since the project in SLO will divert organics from the Waste Connections landfill in SLO County, there was another connection.

HZIU was interested in providing funding toward a new refrigerated truck for the food bank. And after 15 months of hard work, Valley Food Bank was presented with a check for $118,559.29. On Sept. 26, this beautiful new truck was driven onto the Valley Food Bank property where William Skinner, Director O&M Management AD for Hitachi, handed the keys to Mr. Hernandez and Humberto Barba, Warehouse Manager. “This allows us to have greater capacity,” Mr. Hernandez said. “We can do 10 pallets at a time as opposed to eight.

“This is just an extension of what we do to reduce food waste, whether we do it through our process of recycling or we do it through the process of helping (Valley Food Bank) collect more food and keep it out of the landfill,” Mr. Skinner added.

We are grateful to the staff at the Grant Farm for facilitating this partnership and to everyone at Hitachi Zosen Inova U.S.A. LLC, Kompogas-SLO, and Waste Connections for this very generous gift.

Retired LAPD Commander Gives Back Through Food Bank Volunteerism

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For nearly 39 years, Val Paniccia worked for the Los Angeles Police Department, retiring a decade ago as the commander in charge of the San Fernando Valley. In the years that followed, he stayed busy, serving as an usher at his church, Living Faith in Northridge, and spending time with his wife of 48 years, his three kids and six grandchildren.

But when a friend at church told him about his volunteer work at the Valley Food Bank, Val was intrigued. “He encouraged me to check it out, and told what good work they were doing. I came out and had a good time. I actually had a lot of fun—everyone was really pleasant to be around, and we were really doing something positive—helping people get the food they need in our community.”

Val now volunteers at the Food Bank at least every Friday. He unloads food, packs the dairy and vegetables, moves proteins into the freezer, and uses the pallet jack to move large donations. “I do a little bit of everything,” Val said. “I work out with weights, and I like physical exertion—especially after years of sitting behind a desk. So I look forward to a hard day’s work. There are a lot of laughs and we have a good time.”

Aside from receiving and storing food in the warehouse, Val has seen people come to the Food Bank and to partnering churches for help. “I’ve been able to see people get what they need,” he said. “There is such an abundance of food in this country, and we don’t see how many people are in need. If we coordinated better, we could avoid so much waste.”

One Friday, the warehouse was short a volunteer, so Val worked late. “I went on a delivery to a church,” he said. “We brought pallets of food, and when we pulled up, I saw all the people from the community, lined up, waiting for it. I saw how thankful they were.”

Val has also been inspired to try to improve the process, working with the director to look into compost factories that could use expired foods. “I’m good at improving on people’s ideas, but not necessarily coming up with them,” Val said with a laugh. “I hate to waste. If we could set up something up with the compost people, then it could end up going back into people’s gardens.”

He’s also excited to utilize new freezer and refrigeration units, which will soon be installed, made possible by grants. “We’ll be able to save more food from going bad, and then serve more to the community,” Val said. “Once we get it all done, I look forward to filling those units up with even more crates.”

Eagerly Anticipating Food Pantry Visits

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Meet Lee, a regular recipient at our pantry for almost three years now. She and the eight members of her family always anticipate the day when they meet us at the food pantry. She comes early, second in line if not the first.

According to Lee, the food she receives is a big help to her and her husband and the rest of their household. She is a native of Vietnam and helps us a lot in translation among other fellow Vietnamese who frequent the pantry. This community outreach is only afforded through the generosity of the Valley Food Bank and its donors.
Submitted by Pastor Manny Inglesia

Medical Issue Restricts Work, But Doesn’t Stop Elizabeth From Providing For Her Family

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Elizabeth is a mother of three children who are 3, 4, and 11 years old. Elizabeth suffers from pulmonary embolism which has caused blood clots in her right lung and restricts her mobility and ability to work. It’s a disease that has caused much financial burden to the Lorenzo family. Her husband Mateo does all he can to put food on the table, including taking side jobs after his regular shifts as a construction site runner.

Every Friday at 4 a.m., Elizabeth walks three city blocks to get a place in line at North Valley Caring Services’ (NVCS) food pantry. She sits and waits until 10 a.m. when the pantry doors open. Elizabeth has been coming to the pantry for over a year now and she has grown to depend on the pantry for her vegetables and fruits as well as snacks for her children to take to school. “There have been more than a few times that the pantry provided all of the food we had to eat for the week,” Elizabeth said. “With all the money that I spend on medications, I once felt such tremendous guilt because I could not provide for my kids. Now thanks to this food we get every week, I occasionally have money from time to time to take my kids to the movies or to do something nice for them.”

As community liaison of a grassroots organization, I have found myself working the NVCS Pantry door for two years now, and
I have been there when Elizabeth could barely walk through the door because of the pain that she was in. She would wince from pain. And when asked how she was doing she would always respond, “I’m here, so I am good.” Every time she exited the pantry, she would offer me a huge smile and say, “Thank you Mr. Manny. May the Lord bless you as you have blessed this community.”

I am fortunate to receive many accolades from my community because of NVCS’ food pantry. But the reality is that we could not serve this family if it were not for the generosity of the Valley Food Bank who provides us a large portion of the food that we put out in our pantry.

Submitted by Pastor Manny Flores, Community Liaison of North Valley Caring Services.

Address

Valley Food Bank
12701 Van Nuys Blvd. Suite A
Pacoima, CA 91331 
(818) 510-4140

Memberships

The Valley Food Bank is firmly committed to the highest standards of financial and institutional integrity. We fully support the purpose and goals of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. In addition we have earned Charity Navigator’s highest rating of 4 stars.