Last year, the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County’s annual Hunger Awareness Day brought in around $120,000, not quite meeting the campaign goal of raising $150,000. This year, results are bound to be different in a good way.
On June 7, the Food Bank will administer 26 sites throughout the community, compared to the eight last year, where residents can donate just one dollar, or however much they wish, to those who suffer from poverty in the county. The proceeds will go directly to providing healthy food for low-income individuals and families. About 44,000 residents, an increase from last year’s 40,000, are struggling to make ends meet due to the contradictory effect of the improving economy, Chief Executive Officer Carl Hansen explained.
“We expect that even though we’re kind of getting behind the recession, the jobs just aren’t available that used to be there for low-income people,” he said. “So when they do get a job, it’s often not a well-paying job that has benefits. It takes a while for them to get on their feet, and they lose benefits they had when they didn’t have a job.”
In other words, getting a job doesn’t necessarily bring good fortune to low-income families. They can lose such benefits as food stamps and consequently rely on the Food Bank more than ever.
In recent years, one of the Food Bank’s biggest concerns has been the number of youth living in poverty. Forty percent of the organization’s clients are children, compared to 15 percent being senior citizens, Hansen said.
Lovin’ Lunchbox, the organization’s summer program for kids younger than 18, is expanding to become year round, continuing in the form of the BackPack Snack Pack program, an afterschool program providing kids with nutritious snacks. Food provided includes fresh produce, fruit, and balanced meals with protein and grain products. The Food Bank focuses on serving low-sugar, low-sodium, and low-fat foods the kids can still enjoy, according to Hansen.
“We’re increasing our outreach to children, especially in the county, making sure that no child goes without healthy food,” he said. “That’s our biggest push right now to maintain or increase programs that are of direct service to children.”
This effort is no easy task, however. Even with help from government funding, the program is expensive to administer because it requires making food for the children locally, having people at neighborhood sites at all times, and ensuring safety through extensive paperwork, Hansen explained.
It’s all worth it, though, he said, and the Food Bank continues to work with a network of food banks throughout the nation as resources for free or low-cost food. According to Community Outreach Manager Megan Chicoine, the organization can transform a dollar into 10 pounds of food. With these resources, the Food Bank was able to provide 5.4 million pounds of food with the gathered $120,000 last year.
Donors can mail checks to P.O. Box 2070, Paso Robles, CA 93447, or donate online. They can also drive through or walk into any Rabobank branches in San Luis Obispo County now until June 7, or drop by the nearest Hunger Awareness site on June 7. Site locations can be found and online donations made at slofoodbank.org. m
Intern Andrea Kang wrote this week’s Community Corner. Information can be sent to the Sun via mail, e-mail, or fax.
This article appears in May 30 – Jun 6, 2013.
