Feeding the Frontlines Makes History Hosting its 20th Food Drive During COVID-19
Volunteers and organizers at the June 27 event at the City of Port Hueneme. Courtesy photos.
PORT OF HUENEME-CITY OF PORT HUENEME — The Port of Hueneme and local community partners Clinicas Del Camino Real Inc., Lujan Transport Inc., Port customer Del Monte and more, as part of the Feeding the Frontline, Feeding our Farmworkers effort, have hosted 20 food distributions across the County of Ventura. The Port has played an important role in coordinating these events and bringing together different partners to help address the current food scarcity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest event was held on Saturday, June 27 at the Orvene S. Carpenter Community Center in Port Hueneme and had the full support of the City of Port Hueneme.
Bags filled with fresh produce, above, ready for distribution. Below, Port customer Del Monte provides bananas for the community, as seen at a recent Feeding the Frontline event.
“Our work does not stop at the docks,” said Oxnard Harbor District President Jess Ramirez. “It actually continues to impact the community as soon as our customers receive the goods that they are also contributing, to maintain our community food distributions to particularly those directly affected by the pandemic.”
“Since this Pandemic Emergency began, the City of Port Hueneme has focused our efforts to best support of the most vulnerable members of our community. As host of this 20th food scarcity solutions initiative, we couldn’t be more proud of this grand opportunity to literally serve them even more and partner with our good friends at the Port of Hueneme,” remarked the City Manager of Port Hueneme.
The Port of Hueneme recognizes its place as an economic driver and especially as a safety net for our community during these turbulent times. Throughout this endeavor, over 10,000 families have been provided with bananas, strawberries, produce, and hand sanitizer as well as bilingual COVID-19 information to help relieve some of the economic stress that the pandemic has imposed on working families.
The Port is substituting its Banana Festival (usually held in September) for increased COVID-19 relief activities this year, as directed by the Oxnard Harbor District Commissioners, who felt the need to provide a different type of community support during these times.
Volunteers, above, hand out produce to the community. Below: a truck carrying fresh produce is unloading. Both are from recent Feeding the Frontline events.
Miguel Rodriguez, the Port’s Community Outreach Manager, and the lead organizer for these events, state, “It’s very gratifying to be able to do this very important work at a time when resources are scarce. Efforts like these are a testament that no one will go hungry in our community as long as we continue to have truly committed leadership at all levels. Twenty events are a result of social capital built on intentional collaboration with a vision to provide where we can have most impact.”
The Port of Hueneme is one of the most productive and efficient commercial trade gateways for niche cargo on the West Coast. The Port is governed by five locally elected Port Commissioners. The Port moves $9.5 billion in goods each year and consistently ranks among the top ten U.S. ports for automobiles and fresh produce. Port operations support the community by bringing $1.7 billion in economic activity and creating 15,834 trade-related jobs. Trade through the Port of Hueneme generates more than $119 million in direct and related state and local taxes, which fund vital community services. In 2017, the Port of Hueneme became the first port in California to become Green Marine certified and was voted the Greenest Port in the U.S. at the Green Shipping Summit.
The City of Port Hueneme (pronounced “Why-nee-mee”) is a unique community along Ventura County’s Gold Coast just south of the City of Oxnard and Channel Islands Harbor. Port Hueneme is unique because of its rich history, culture, and traditions, dating back to the Chumash Indians who made their home here for centuries and because of its long-established, close relationship with the U.S. Navy’s Port Hueneme and Point Mugu naval facilities.