Working with the Orange County Food Bank of Community Action Partnership
The Impact of COVID-19
Before the pandemic slammed Orange County with job losses in our once-thriving travel, tourism and hospitality industries, there were nearly 456,000 people at risk of hunger each month. As of June 2020, that number has increased by 4x per month. This population consists of families, children, seniors, the newly vulnerable impacted by COVID-19 job losses and those recovering from medical expenses or disabilities. Hunger affects people of every age, race, ethnic group and neighborhood. In some families, hunger is a result of a sudden emergency or crisis, but for many marginalized or low-income OC residents, hunger has become a long- term condition of poverty.
“We all have a role to play in fighting hunger in Orange County, and it begins with taking action. Join our fight to end hunger by volunteering at the food bank, starting a food program at a congregation or community organization, making a personal or corporate contribution or learning more about the causes and effects of hunger.
Or simply start by making a donation. However you contribute, you’re joining a force of like minds and hearts who are uniting to erase hunger from our future.”
Volunteering
On December 23, 2020, we volunteered at the OC Food Bank to distribute food donations we had made in the previous round. While enjoying this great hands-on opportunity, we had some really insightful conversations with the staff working there. 2020 had understatedly been a tough year, but we felt so happy and lucky to celebrate the holiday season by helping out.
Putting Ourselves in Other People’s Shoes
Despite being a young and still growing organization, we’ve had the opportunity to learn so many lessons that have helped guide us both in volunteering and in life. Working with people of all occupations and backgrounds has prompted us to explore the different perspectives in our community. We’ve realized that there will always be parts of our community that we aren’t aware of and won’t be exposed to unless we consciously go out and discover them ourselves.
In the second part of our two-part episode on food insecurity and why food banks are essential, we sat down with Jacqueline Gaithe from the Orange County Food Bank to hear her experiences working at a food bank, how COVID-19 has changed daily life at OCFB, and what her experiences with low-income families have taught her.
The Clementine Food Trolley
“Clementine” the Mobile Food Trolley is a customized mobile grocery store on wheels that serves low-income families throughout Orange County. During each distribution, approximately 3,500 pounds of food is readily available to service 60-70 families with school age children in the home. Learn more
