Feinstein Foundation Challenge Begins in March

Double the Benefits – Time for the Feinstein Foundation Challenge

Two of our local food banks are participating in the Feinstein Foundation Challenge. They are eligible for significant matching funds for all food donated by our community during March and April. We asked each of our Allied Agency food banks to provide a brief overview of their operations. We encourage you to hold a food drive in March or April to allow these organizations to double the benefits to the hungry in our community! You may be feeling stressed due to the state of our economy. However, we never feel richer than when we are sharing with our neighbors. You too will be richly rewarded by the act of giving.

Help the Children - Santa Clarita (formerly Hunger Defense Fund) is a local non-profit food bank providing groceries to low-income families living in the Santa Clarita Valley since 2002. Our organization does not receive any government funding and relies solely on donations from the community. Over 1,300 local families received food in 2008 and the needs are increasing. Our food bank is set up like a grocery store so that families may shop and choose their own groceries. We are open evening and weekend hours to accommodate working families and we allow families to receive food once a week. We would gratefully accept food drive donations from any of the schools and will provide a Certificate of Appreciation to each participating school. Food drive donations received during March and April are particularly important as they help us qualify for matching funds from the Feinstein Foundation. We have transportation available and are happy to pick up food drive donations from the schools.

The Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry has provided supplemental food, at no cost, to needy families in our valley since 1986. Our mission is to alleviate hunger throughout the Santa Clarita Valley. We accomplish this with a dynamic group of volunteers who source food and cash donations, package nutritious food to stretch a family's food supply and distribute that food to qualifying residents of the Santa Clarita Valley.

The SCV Food Pantry is located at 24133 Railroad Avenue in Newhall (between 4th and 5th Streets) and is open Monday-Thursdays from 9:00am-12:00noon and the first Saturday of each month from 10:00an-12:00noon. We are open the third Friday of each month from 9:00am-12:00noon for our senior citizen clients only. Since many of the senior citizens in our community are on fixed incomes they are forced each month to choose between the food or medications they need. The Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry distributes supplemental food to low-income senior citizens through our Senior Outreach Mobile Distribution at six sites in the Santa Clarita Valley each month. We also partner with the Senior Center to supply homebound seniors with food each month.

The Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry, neighbors helping neighbors for the past 23 years. Because "No child in the Santa Clarita Valley should go to bed hungry."

The SCV Food Pantry will again be taking part in the Feinstein Challenge and is asking local schools to compete in the 2009 Students Against Hunger in the SCV by conducting a food drive in their school to help benefit the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry and those less fortunate in the SCV.