Courtesy of support from Feeding America, Food Share has recently provided grant funding to 28 food pantries in Ventura County enabling them to purchase items like refrigerators and iPads that support their operational capacity and ability to serve the community. This latest round of agency enhancement grants follows on from an initial round provided by Feeding America in 2021.
Gary Cooper, Pantry Coordinator at Sacred Heart Church Food Pantry at Cabrillo Village, wrote to express the difference that replacing a ten-year-old, energy-guzzling, residential-type fridge-freezer with a commercial refrigerator has made to their operations. “The commercial refrigerator performs in the place of three residential-type units. Our monthly costs are reduced and there’s more space available in the pantry to store non-perishable food,” he wrote.
Randy Merin and Carrie McGurn, who run the Temple Beth Torah Pantry in Ventura, are equally delighted, writing, “The refrigerator has given us the ability to store more food from week to week with peace of mind when it comes to food safety. This allows us to provide a well rounded food box to our clients. Many clients have commented recently about the fresh dairy that has been in the boxes along with the abundance of fruits and vegetables.”
The entire team celebrated the role of technology in speeding up the client check-in process at St. Paschal St. Vincent de Paul in Thousand Oaks. Their President, Anne Vollmer, and Pantry Manager, Paul Laroche, wrote, “We would like to thank Food Share for awarding us an Enhancement Grant for a new Apple Ipad and hot spot service for one year! We are grateful for your ongoing support of our organization. Your assistance has helped us with our weekly Saturday drive-through pantry, and the new Ipad has sped up our client check-in process.”
Food Share’s network of 190 food pantries are often located in community hubs like senior centers, college campuses and places of worship. Each pantry “shops” at Food Share’s warehouse, collecting food at no cost for distribution to their local population in need. Each pantry has an allotment of food based on the numbers being served.
Learn about our Community Programs: https://foodshare.com/programs/
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