My name is Christian Castro, and I work for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, better known as The LA Fed. We are a coalition that represents workers across the County. When the pandemic hit, entire industries that offer good jobs to millions in Los Angeles County quickly came to a dead stop. Hospitality. LAX. Hollywood. Shipping and warehousing. For our workers, the impact was immediate and heartbreaking. The LA Fed has long fought to eliminate hunger in our County because of our commitment to doing good for the community.

“All of a sudden, for many of our members, food insecurity was not just a problem for someone else; it was happening right in their homes. Refrigerators were empty. Pantries were bare. Money was scarce. On behalf of the LA Fed, I want to thank you for what you are doing to feed our city.” – Christian Castro.

Because we have long had a strong working relationship with the Food Bank, we knew right away what we had to do. From Inglewood to the Antelope Valley, The LA Fed and the Food Bank have hosted more than 25 Drive-Through distributions that have served hundreds of thousands of families and distributed millions of pounds of healthy food. As much as the sense of despair has grown around us as the crisis grinds on and on, I want to tell you that we are hopeful, too. Ironically, this situation has been a blessing because it is truly bringing out the best in our community. At our distributions, we sometimes have to turn away volunteers because so many people want to help. They don’t have money, but they have time and want to give what they can.