B95.1 to kick off Food Share’s “Stuff the Bus” campaign on Dec. 16

B95.1 and Gold Coast Transit team up to collect food and funds in December for Ventura County’s only regional food bank

Throughout December, Ventura County drivers will travel on city streets alongside 30 Gold Coast Transit buses adorned with colorful posters designed to help raise awareness of FOOD Share’s “Stuff the Bus” holiday food drive, the organization reported this week in a media release.

On the weekend of Dec. 16-18, Bo Jaxon, B95.1 KBBY’s most popular morning DJ, will spend three days living inside and broadcasting from a Gold Coast Transit bus parked at Oxnard’s Chick-fil-A restaurant, 2040 N. Rose Ave. Jaxon will challenge Ventura County residents and business owners to visit Chick- fil-A and help him “stuff the bus” full of cash and non-perishable food donations for FOOD Share.

“As a child, there were times when my mom and I struggled and did not always have enough to eat,” said Jaxon. “I am passionate about ending hunger here in Ventura County and proud to lend my voice to help FOOD Share during the holidays.”

FOOD Share relies heavily on community support to restock the shelves of their Oxnard warehouse distribution center in December and January. The nonprofit, which currently feeds more than 74,500 people each month, has set aggressive goals for its 2011 Tackle Hunger campaign and hopes to collect over $150,000 in monetary donations and over 200,000 lbs of donated food before January 10, 2012.

Supervisor Kathy Long will stop by at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 16 to make official proclamations and help kick off the weekend food drive. In addition to the chance to meet and be on the radio with Bo Jaxon, Chick-fil-A visitors who stop by during the three day event will enjoy Christmas carolers, giveaways, prizes and the chance to meet jolly ole Santa Cow.

The first 95 visitors who stop by on Friday and Saturday mornings with five or more cans of donated food will receive a free Chick-fil-A breakfast entree and all who contribute will be entered in a raffle to win the grand prize of free Chick-fil-A meals for a year.

On Monday Dec. 19 at 10 a.m., Jaxon, Weigel and local officials will be escorted by the Oxnard Police Department as they ride in the Gold Coast Transit bus full of food donations from Chik-fil-A to FOOD Share’s Oxnard warehouse distribution center, 4156 Southbank Road.

“Stuff the Bus is made possible by our generous sponsors – B95.1, Gold Coast Transit, Chick-fil-A, Rubber Neck Signs and Coverly Professional Services.”

About FOOD Share

The food bank distributing millions of pounds of food each year to those in need throughout Ventura County, FOOD Share collects and receives food year-round, distributing through more than 150 pantry partner agencies throughout Ventura County, including Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Oak View, Ojai, Oxnard, Santa Paula, Simi Valley, Somis, Thousand Oaks, and Ventura.

FOOD Share provides food to more than 74,500 people each month countywide through its partner agencies and multiple programs. Programs include the Senior Brown Bag that provides supplemental nutrition to nearly 2,000 low income seniors, home delivered meals and supplemental groceries through the Oxnard and Ventura Senior Nutrition Programs and, the Kids’ Farmers’ Markets, offering nutrition education, healthy recipe preparation and taste testing and a farmers’ market free fresh produce “shopping experience.”

In 2011, FOOD Share partnered with Ventura County’s Human Services Agency to provide expanded CalFresh enrollment assistance. CalFresh, formerly called food stamps, is the largest federal nutrition assistance program that provides supplemental nutrition assistance to eligible Ventura County residents.

For more information: call 805.983-7100 or go to http://www.foodshare.com