The Solvang City Council unanimously approved a one-time grant of $10,000 to Bethania Lutheran Church at its Jan. 25 meeting, after the church’s reverend sought the city’s help in feeding families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rev. Chris Brown of Bethania Church and about 70 volunteers work in shifts every Tuesday evening to provide Santa Ynez Valley residents with bags of produce, canned goods, and dry goods.
The grant funding, Brown said, will go toward the volunteer work that members of the Solvang community have put their time and energy into for 45 weeks—as of press time, it will be 46 weeks.
A majority of the individuals who have been going to the church for the free bags of food are farmworkers and service industry workers.
“About 97 percent of the people coming through our line are residents of the Santa Ynez Valley. These are people that harvest our food, work at the restaurants that we are desperately trying to reopen, and this is assistance that they are depending on,” Brown said.
A staff report states that Bethania creates about 500 food bags each week that are given to approximately 350 households—about 1,200 to 1,600 individuals.
The produce and goods are provided by the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County and Veggie Rescue; however, these organizations are also distributing food in other areas in the county. Brown said the church doesn’t always know how much food it will get.
The church supplements the items given from both organizations with $2,000 worth of food paid for from its general funds, donations, and community grants.
Bethania’s also purchased diapers and baby wipes to give to those in need because those items cannot be purchased with funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that many families benefit from.
“This is simply centered on providing a need for our community, and in no way is there a religious element attached to this,” he said.
Every Tuesday around 9:30 a.m., the trucks from the food bank and Veggie Rescue unload food onto the church property with the help of its volunteers. At 11:30 a.m. a different group of volunteers arrives to put the food in bags to be handed out at the church from 5:15 to 6:45 p.m.
Community members have the option to go through the drive-through lane to get a bag or walk into the church to pick one up. For those who can’t make it to the Tuesday pickup, the church started a “blessing box,” where food purchased by the church or donated by the community can be picked up by those who need it.
Along with approving the $10,000 grant, Solvang City Council directed staff to work with Bethania Church and other nonprofits and organizations to evaluate potential financial assistance opportunities through the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery.
This article appears in Feb 4-11, 2021.