Every month, the Food Bank partners with Long Beach City College to serve 500+ families through the Mobile Food Pantry — supporting students facing food insecurity and the surrounding community.

Textbooks or groceries. Rent or tuition. For too many college students, these aren’t hypotheticals; they’re monthly decisions that determine whether they can stay enrolled and keep moving toward their goals of a better future.

At Long Beach City College (LBCC), the Basic Needs Program works to ensure students never have to choose. And once a month, that mission comes to life at the campus’s Mobile Food Pantry, a free food distribution event made possible through LBCC’s partnership with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Every month, hundreds of individuals, students, and community members alike line up in the College’s parking lot for the opportunity to take home essential food items, helping them put food on the table for themselves and their families. 

“What’s so great about this event that I love is it’s for our students, but it’s for the community,” says Justin Mendez, Director of the Basic Needs Program at LBCC. “As a community college, I think it’s important for us to have that connection and help connect these important resources for our community, because we know the need is high.”

With the rising cost of food, Mendez says, that support makes a real dent in the financial pressure so many households are feeling right now.

The Impact

For Mendez and his team, this work is personal. Basic Needs staff regularly encounter students facing some of the hardest circumstances of their lives, including students experiencing homelessness, sleeping in cars, shelters, or hotels, and still showing up to class. Many are also parents, balancing responsibilities for their children while working toward a better future for the next generation.

As the main provider for LBCC’s on-campus food pantry, known as the Viking Vault, the Food Bank helps stock the Mobile Food Pantry with a full range of perishable and nonperishable items, including canned goods, fresh produce, and bread. The distributions even include chicken, a protein source that Mendez says carries real significance for families working to stretch every dollar.

That steady, reliable partnership is what allows LBCC to serve hundreds of families each month with dignity and consistency. This partnership is also one of many that the Food Bank maintains to maximize its reach and provide food assistance where it matters most. If you are in a position to do so, consider donating to the Food Bank, where 96% of every dollar goes to supporting programs.