OXNARD — Food Share of Ventura County has launched CAN-tree Drive, its popular, annual, festive food & fund drive. The event, now in its ninth year, features hundreds of “trees” built from collected food cans, and usually takes place at Figueroa Plaza in downtown Ventura. This year, CAN-tree comes to you! Individuals, families and local businesses are being asked to build their tree at their home or business location.
There are three ways to get involved and still have a great time – just a little differently:
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Collect & Build – Host a canned food drive and collect cans to use for your tree. Each CAN-tree will require approx. 600-800 cans. Build the tree at your location and send us a photo. Then, we’ll come pick up the cans for donation!
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Buy & Build – Send Food Share the donation to purchase the cans. The cans may be picked up or will be delivered to your location for your office/family/team to build your tree.
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Sponsor a Tree – Food Share will build a tree for you at our warehouse with your company name/logo and include a photo of it on our website and social media.
Thirteen different awards in various categories will be handed out, including a new category – the People’s Choice award – in which the community will be able to vote on their favorite tree via Facebook. Four of the largest trees, a staggering 15 feet each and containing thousands of donated cans, will be on display as part of the Holidays in Your Car event at the Ventura County Fairgrounds from November 22 – January 2, 2021.
Commenting on the changes to CAN-tree in light of the pandemic, Jennifer Caldwell, Food Share’s Chief Development Officer, said, “We look forward to our annual CAN-tree event every year. It’s a critical source of food donations for the forthcoming year. For obvious reasons our 9th Annual CAN-tree Food Drive will be a little different this year but with all the same fun!”
To register visit: foodshare.com/cantree or Download Food Share’s new app, available for free in the App Store and Google Play and hit the Events tab!
About Food Share of Ventura County:
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Even in normal circumstances, an estimated 1 in 6 people in Ventura County experiences food insecurity, meaning that they are without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.
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Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Food Share of Ventura County has seen an unprecedented rise in need in addition to the 75,000 people the organization already serves on a monthly basis. Food Share now estimates the number is closer to 150,000.
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Since April 1, Food Share has held more than 200 emergency drive-thru food distributions, distributing more than 280,000 emergency food boxes serving more than 850,000 individuals.
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These distributions are a supplement to the ongoing work of Food Share’s pantry and agency partner network, of which approximately 20% have closed, at least temporarily.
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For all the latest information on where to find food, how to volunteer and how you can support Food Share with a monetary donation visit: www.foodshare.com
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Download Food Share’s new app, available for free in the App Store and Google Play by searching “Food Share of Ventura County.” The app provides a new Find Food Now search function, which allows anyone in need of food to quickly identify sources of free food on any given day. Visit: foodshare.com/app/ for details.
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Food Share is honored to have been named a 2020 CA Nonprofit of the Year by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin.
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Follow Food Share on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube and tag posts #WeFeedVC
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Food Share is a member of Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, as well as the California Association of Food Banks.