The Jewel of Food Share. The origin story of Food Share begins in the 1970s, when a remarkable group of friends came together to help feed seniors struggling with poverty, and the increasing number of homeless veterans returning from the Vietnam War. Jewel Pedi, Food Share’s indomitable, 93-year-old founder, spoke to us from her home in Arizona about those early days and her legacy of fighting hunger in Ventura County. How did Food Share come into...
Nicole’s Story Nicole is a student at Moorpark College taking her prerequisites before transferring to a 4-year college. She has been visiting Ruben Castro Charities (RCC), one of Food Share’s network of pantry partners, both to collect food for her family and to work as a volunteer. Photo for illustration purposes only. “When I returned to school, I quit my job, but that left my family of five very short of money. I was able to contribute to...
Staff Spotlight - Jenny Gamez Jenny is Food Share’s Office Administrator, and the cheery face you’ll see greeting you if you visit us. She has worked at Food Share for a little under three years. Why do you work at Food Share? I’m here because I am for the mission 110%. I see the people who come to our offices looking for food and the stress on their faces. Hunger is not something...
Food Insecurity.Finding the light at the end of the tunnel in Ventura County. Founded in 1978, Food Share of Ventura County is the largest hunger relief organization in Ventura County. Food Share collects, stores, and distributes millions of pounds of food annually to community partners such as food pantries, homeless shelters, and hot meal sites that work directly with people in need. Food Share also provides food direct, via programs like Senior Kit and Kids’ Farmers’ Market and,...
Adelante Comunidad Conejo The Channel Islands Vineyard Church Pantry Community Action of Ventura County Grants Provide Much Needed Support to Food Share’s Pantry Network Thanks to support from Feeding America, Food Share has been able to provide grant funding to twenty-eight members of our food pantry network. The funding has enabled investment in items like refrigerators and shelving systems that directly support each pantry’s operational capacity and their ability to serve the increasing numbers of clients they’re seeing experiencing COVID-related hardship. Among the pantry...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 28, 2021 Media Inquiries: Vivien Minton Marketing Director vminton@foodshare.com (805) 822-8027 FOOD SHARE WELCOMES TWO NEW BOARD MEMBERS (OXNARD, CA) Food Share has welcomed two new members to its board of directors – Ian Thompson, Senior Vice President, General Manager of Amgen’s U.S. General Medicine Business, and Pete Firestone, Senior Managing Director at Protiviti, within the firm’s Business Performance Improvement Practice. Ian was born in the U.K. and completed his undergraduate degree at Leeds Beckett University before earning...
25 years of service and counting! Dave Bratz is one of the most beloved and dedicated members of the Food Share family. He’s served Food Share for 25 years, as both a volunteer and a former member of the Board of Directors. “You meet nice people when you volunteer,” says Dave Bratz, who would certainly know this after 25 years volunteering at Food Share. Dave first became involved in 1995, shortly after retiring, when...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 15, 2021 Media Inquiries: Vivien Minton Marketing Director vminton@foodshare.com (805) 822-8027 FOOD SHARE DISTRIBUTES MOST FOOD IN ITS 43 YEAR HISTORY (OXNARD, CA) Since the onset of COVID-19 one year ago, Food Share, Ventura County’s largest hunger-relief organization, has distributed more than 26 million pounds of food, providing more than 21.6 million meals to people in Ventura County. That’s the most amount of food ever distributed in the organization’s 43 year history, and nearly double the previous high of 13.5 million...
