IMPERIAL — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be donating over 40,000 pounds of food to Imperial Valley Food Bank on Tuesday, June 9, as part of a collaborative effort to end hunger in the region.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is collaborating with America250 by sending food donations to 250 food banks across all 50 states. As part of this nationwide effort, the Imperial Valley Food Bank will receive more than 40,000 pounds of food, enough to feed 1,400 families for an entire week.
The donation will exclusively benefit families in need throughout Imperial County. This donation will enhance the Food Bank’s already existing food pantry and storage.
John Reed, Director of Operations at the Imperial Valley Food Bank, said, “This event is open to the public, although it is not necessarily a food disruption event. The general public can attend, although they do need to check-in and register at the front desk. It’s going to be set up in the warehouse area, where the speakers will be.”
Reed also said, “The food won’t be available immediately, but what we always do every day of the month is that we are always out in the community, holding various distribution events at different sites. Food distributions are usually somewhere in the community, by ourselves or with a partner agency.”
“More often than not, people come into the food bank to sign up to start receiving donations, and then we’ll assign them to a distribution site that’s close to where they live. But, of course, if anybody needs food assistance, they can come here, and we will help them out,” he added.
“Our primary program is the USDA Food Assistance Program, and the commodities that we receive from them is the main product that is distributed to community members looking for assistance. The donation that we are expecting to receive on Tuesday adds to and enhances the USDA’s food nutrition program,” Reed said. “It contributes to the food distribution that we do every day.”
Reed emphasized that community members in need of food assistance should register with the IV Food Bank. He said that there is a website with information, IVFoodbank.com, and a phone number, plus their social media pages, such as Facebook and Instagram.
“We post the location of our distributions every week on social media,” Reed said. “But they’re pretty much the same every month.
The public is invited to attend a community event celebrating the arrival and unloading of the food donation, which will be delivered via a JustServe.org and America250 co-branded truck.
Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez, Imperial Valley Food Bank CEO Sara Griffen, and Elder David Clark of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are expected to speak at the event.
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