Some of the ceramic bowls that will be available to those who purchase their tickets for the annual Santa Barbara Empty Bowl luncheon on Nov. 3 at the Ben Page Youth Center in Santa Barbara. Courtesy photo.
From food drives to toy donations, groups already helping those in need
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805
As the 805 region enters the holiday season, the time is here for local organizations to step up their efforts to help those in need.
From canned food to toy and winter clothing drives, area organizations are busy with a number of efforts this holiday season.
Empty Bowls help feed those in need. Tickets still available.
One of the first events this holiday season is the 16th annual Santa Barbara Empty Bowls luncheon on Nov. 3 to benefit Foodbank Santa Barbara County. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ben Page Youth Center, 4540 Hollister Ave., Santa Barbara.
Members of Foodbank Santa Barbara County’s Empty Bowls Committee gather for a group photo. Courtesy photo.
Empty Bowls is an international effort to fight hunger, started in 1990. The first Empty Bowls of Santa Barbara in 1998 began as a volunteer effort to increase the awareness of the pervasive levels of hunger in the community, Foodbank representatives reported in a media release.
For a donation of $30 or more, participants get to choose a bowl handcrafted by local ceramic artists, enjoy a simple meal of soup, bread and water, and take home the bowl as a reminder of the meal’s purpose to feed the hungry in the community, organizers reported.
In 2011, more than 1,000 people attended Empty Bowls, which raised more than $156,000 for the Foodbank through corporate donations, ticket sales, a silent auction and raffle. Empty Bowls has donated more than $1 million to Foodbank during the last 16 years to help alleviate hunger in Santa Barbara County and has raised community awareness for Foodbank’s mission and work, organizers reported.
More examples of bowls available during the Santa Barbara Empty Bowl luncheon. Courtesy image.
The event will feature a marketplace where guest can purchase a variety of handmade ceramic items as gifts this holiday season. Empty Bowls provides gift cards with each piece so the recipient will know the purchase of their gift helped relieve hunger in Santa Barbara County, organizers reported.
New this year, attendees will have the opportunity to see what Foodbank does firsthand through a visit to the Foodbank’s Santa Barbara warehouse facility next door.
After the meal guests are invited to visit Foodbank’s Feed the Future program demonstration booths, blend a smoothie on the human-energy-powered bike blender, and enjoy healthy sweets. Guests will also be able to see where fresh produce as well as where non-perishable goods are stored.
Seating Times are 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. Tickets are still available and must be purchased in advance through the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. For tickets or more information, please contact Diane Durst at 805-967-5741, ext. 104 or visit www.foodbanksbc.org/events-emptybowls-sb.html.
Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is celebrating more than 30 years of eliminating hunger and food insecurity by distributing nutritious food, education, and other resources through its own programs and to a network of 300 member nonprofit partners and programs in Santa Barbara County.
Last year, it distributed what translates into more than 8.5 million meals, half consisting of fresh produce. The meals served more than 102,000 unduplicated people from Carpinteria to Santa Maria, officials reported. For the fifth consecutive time, the Foodbank has recently been given a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator of charities. Only 4 percent of the charities rated have received at least 5 consecutive 4-star evaluations.
This holiday season, Foodbank Santa Barbara County will also conduct its annual turkey drive through Nov. 22. The organization reports that it is seeking to collect 3,000 turkeys.
Wells Fargo Bank has agree to sponsor this year’s Turkey Drive with a $25,000 1 to 1 matching grant, with turkey donates matched at $15 each. Donations can be dropped off at its Foodbank wearhouse sites from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. A special turkey collection day will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16. Visit http://www.foodbanksbc.org/turkeydrive.html or www.foodbanksbc.org for more information.
Events continuing to aid Oxnard families displaced by fire
Future Leaders of America and the League of United Latin American Citizens in Ventura County will present a “Youth in Solidarity Dinner Dance Fundraiser” on Friday, Nov. 15 to benefit Oxnard families that were displaced by a trailer park fire on Oct. 4. The fire at Five Points left 47 adults and 36 children homeless.
The dance will be held from 6 p.m. to midnight at the Knights of Columbus, 600 So. D St., Oxnard. There is a suggested $25 donation per ticket, which can be purchased at Frida’s Treasures, 535 So. A St., Oxnard.
Donations to the fire victims can be made directly to Future Leaders of America, P.O. Box 51637, Oxnard, CA 93031. Call 805-844-8530 or 805-340-4634 for more information.
Donations for the fire victims are also being accepted by the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project. Donations of clothing for adults and children, kitchen supplies, utensils, plates, cups, blankets and bedding and toys can be dropped off at MICOP, 520 W. Fifth St., Room F. Cash donations can be made by check to MICOP, P.O. Box 20543, Oxnard, CA 93034.
CAN-Tree drive will benefit FOOD Share
Tackle Hunger Kick-off Breakfast attendees build a can tree on Oct. 29 at the FOOD Share warehouse in Oxnard. Courtesy photo.
FOOD Share, Ventura County’s food bank, will kick off its lead event for its annual Tackle Hunger campaign with the second annual CAN-tree Collection food drive from Dec. 6-8 at The Collection at RiverPark, a shopping and dining center in Oxnard.
“Our Tackle Hunger campaign comes at the most critical time during the year when we need the most support from our community, and we hope this signature event will give us the boost we need to help serve our hungry friends,” Bonnie Weigel, president and CEO of FOOD Share, stated in a release. “This year, the need has heightened, as food insecurity among children and seniors is steadily increasing. If everyone in our community donated a small amount to the hungry population, together we could put an end to this hardship.”
Business, community and faith-based teams will collect canned goods and build their own “can tree” as part of their fight against hunger.
The goal this year is to construct 100 can trees, each built from about 800 cans. The teams will build the 5-foot-tall can-trees from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Businesses will build their can-trees on Friday, Dec. 6; neighborhood teams, families and faith-based groups will build their trees on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 7 and 8.
The centerpiece of the event will be The Collection’s own can tree made of 10,000 cans donated by Whole Foods Market, and designed and assembled by students of ACE Charter High School, organizers reported.
Ventura County PODS franchise owner Steve Yapp has donated containers to transport more than 35,000 canned goods to the event site for construction of the can trees.
B95.1 radio hosts will also broadcast live from a transparent Plexiglass PODS® container, encouraging the community to donate cans and build their own can trees, organizers reported.
Tackle Hunger Kick-off Breakfast attendees build a can tree on Oct. 29 at the FOOD Share warehouse in Oxnard. Courtesy photo.
Donations to FOOD Share will be accepted all weekend. For every $25 donated, the regional food bank will be able to provide $125 worth of food to families in need, officials reported. This year, FOOD Share’s goal is to raise $150,000 in donations throughout the holiday season to provide 8 million meals – equivalent to 10 million pounds of food – per year.
Last year, more than 57,000 pounds of food were collected, along with $13,500 in monetary donations for the inaugural Can-Tree Collection event.
According to a 2013 study by Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, nearly 102,400 people in Ventura County do not know where they will find their next meal; only 74,500 seek FOOD Share’s assistance through its 162 pantry partners per month.
“No one deserves to go hungry, especially around the holidays,” Leticia Wilson, marketing director for The Collection, stated in a media release. “Our first CAN-tree Collection event was a huge success and this year we hope to inspire more teams to join us in our fight against hunger in Ventura County.”
FOOD Share distributes millions of pounds of food each year to those in need throughout Ventura County. It collects and receives food year-round, distributing through more than 162 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.
In May 2013, FOOD Share established a partnership with Southern California Gas to further expand and support the hungry individuals the food bank serves. The Southern California Gas CARE Program provides a further source of support to individuals and families who are struggling to make ends meet.
The CARE program provides relief through discounted gas utility bills for individuals and families.
Call 805-983-7100 or visit http://www.foodshare.com for more information.
Gift Match program details coming to United Way of Ventura County website
The United Way of Ventura County will be updating information encouraging individuals to take part in its gift-matching program, said Susan Englund, vice president of community impact for the organization.
MICOP preparing for annual Fiesta Navideña toy drive
The Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project will be launching its annual toy and backpack drive to benefit youth during its annual Fiesta Navideña event at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and at Rio Real School on Dec. 14. Visit http://www.mixteco.org/Calendar_of_Events.html for more information.