Notable Help in the Fight Against Hunger in LA County
Notable Help in the Fight Against Hunger in LA County
Food and nutrition insecurity is indiscriminate, impacting individuals of various ages, ethnicities and communities regardless of education and employment levels. Los Angeles County’s exorbitant high costs of living and transportation further exacerbate marginalized communities with fixed incomes.
According to USC Dornsife, 30% of people in LA County experience food insecurity. Fortunately, through partnerships with numerous hunger relief organizations, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank can provide essential support to our neighbors. Partnerships include vital collaborations with engaged community members, including citizens, organizations, corporations, and notable names throughout LA County. The Food Bank is grateful for the support of everyone, including the following familiar names and organizations throughout the last few years.
*Listed in reverse chronological order as of May 10, 2024
In a powerful display of collaboration and advocacy, Feeding America brought together the combined star talents of Adina Porter, Mason Gooding, Lorenza Izzo and Ronen Rubinstein to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to increase volunteerism and food insecurity awareness on April 26, 2024. The Food Bank thanks these celebrities for graciously donating their time and effort to help bolster the Food Bank’s and its partners’ efforts to provide food and nutrition assistance to our neighbors.
Roughly 800 families and individuals of Leimert Park and its surrounding communities were given food and essential resources for a special farmer’s market-style distribution, empowering attendees to choose their food items. The event was hosted by the Los Angeles Rams and non-profit partners It’s Bigger Than Us (IBTU) and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to celebrate Black History Month.
While the local nonprofit, IBTU, provides resources and distributions for its communities every Friday, the February 23, 2024 event was extra special. Appearances by Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, safety Quentin Lake, Rams Cheerleaders, team mascot Rampage, staff and volunteers from the organization added to the excitement.
In a powerful display of community engagement at the Food Bank, Bank of America and the Los Angeles Dodgers joined forces to tackle the pressing issue of nutrition insecurity in the greater Los Angeles area.
The event marked the kickoff of the 2024 Dodgers Love L.A. Community Tour, presented by Bank of America. Kristen McCowan, Vice President of Government and Community Affairs at the Dodgers, highlighted the significance of the collaboration, emphasizing the alignment of the initiative with the core values of both organizations.
Multihyphenate mogul Chrissy Teigen and her Cravings team made the 2023 Giving Tuesday, a movement built upon shared humanity and generosity, at the Food Bank even more notable on November 28, 2023, when they volunteered for an afternoon shift to help pack and organize food resources for those in need at the Food Bank’s City of Industry distribution center. Teigen and her team joined a group of individual and group volunteers to prepare food kits, each intended to help alleviate the growing hunger levels being faced by food-insecure families and individuals burdened by the overwhelming financial and economic pressures–no less during the holiday season.
In a heartwarming display of community spirit, Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnston spent the afternoon on November 14, 2023, volunteering at the Food Bank. Johnston, who is known for his athleticism and dedication on the field, demonstrated his commitment to giving back to the community by assisting in packaging food for later distribution.
The Food Bank was honored to join hands with the Los Angeles Clippers at their annual Feed the Community event held at the Kia Forum in Inglewood. The collaboration made 40,000 pounds of food available to the community, which translates to 33,000 meals for 1,000 neighbors.
The Food Bank is proud to have hosted the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) for its LAFC Volunteer Day on Thursday, October 19, 2023, at our South LA warehouse and distribution center. The LAFC volunteer corps worked together to package and sort over 7,500 lbs of fresh produce for nutritious meals going to food-insecure communities across LA County.
The Food Bank partnered with Rams receiver Cooper Kupp, who served as the event’s Honorary Chair and was the 2021 NFL Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl LVI MVP.
The 8th Annual Taste of the Rams event has raised almost $200,000 to provide essential assistance to families and individuals facing food insecurity in Los Angeles County. This funding helped the Food Bank distribute hundreds of thousands of nutritious meals across LA County, substantially impacting the ongoing battle against hunger.
The Food Bank is honored to have had Metallica volunteers at the Food Bank again to donate their time to fighting hunger in LA County. This effort was connected to their tradition of mobilizing fans all over the world to better their communities. In this case, the volunteer day was connected to their two shows at SoFi Stadium. The All Within My Hands volunteer day with Metallica was held on August 25, 2023.
The Food Bank hosted its 2nd Annual “A Million Reasons” Fundraising Event on the evening of Sunday, August 13, in a private home in the Hollywood Hills. The event brought together nearly 200 guests who came together to fight hunger. Proceeds of the evening will provide more than 1,000,000 meals for those facing food insecurity in LA County.
Among the night’s highlights was an exclusive performance by the legendary Gladys Knight – the iconic singer known as the “Empress of Soul.” Knight performed some of her hit singles, including “Midnight Train to Georgia” and “I Hope You Dance.”
The event was hosted by Food Bank board member and Platinum donors, Keith Addis and his wife, Keri Selig, at their home in the Hollywood Hills and celebrities in attendance included Jeff Goldblum, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Dylan McDermott and Sam Waterston.
Collaborating with Feeding America, The Bear producers, FX Networks, Hulu , ABC Owned Television Stations and Disney provided approximately 450,000 meals for kids and families experiencing summer hunger. This gift was part of an annual donation by Disney that will deliver nearly five million meals nationwide. Cast mates Chris Witaske and Lione Boyce shared their thoughts with ABC7 on giving back to the community while visiting our South Los Angeles distribution center on July 18, 2023.
Super Bowl LVI Champions Los Angeles Rams, teamed up with the Food Bank to host a walk-up food distribution at Ted Watkins Park in South LA and a drive-through distribution at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood as part of their Tackling Hunger Campaign during the holiday season of 2022. Rams players Tyler Higbee and Tremayne Anchrum were volunteers in distributing food to the community.
In October 2022, the Los Angeles Clippers teamed up with the Food Bank to distribute food to neighbors at the Kia Forum in Inglewood. Multiple players and Clippers staff, including coaches, volunteered to distribute food to 600 families, or an estimated 2,400 people. Thanks to their hard work, these children, seniors, families and individuals received food for their pantries and refrigerators.
The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, a longtime partner of the Food Bank, donated $750,000 to the Food Bank to help provide food and nutrition assistance to families in need throughout LA County as part of the 2022 All-Star Legacy Initiative. In addition to the financial gift, the LA Dodgers and key members of Major League Baseball, including MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, volunteered at the Food Bank on Monday, July 18, and prepared kits for the Food Bank’s BackPack Program, which provides food to students when free school meals are not available.
The collective star power of Leighton Meester, Shanola Hampton, Emily Tosta, Emma Kenney, Laura Harrier, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Larhonza Lee Rodriguez, Feeding America CEO Claire L. Babineaux-Fontenot helped illuminate 2022’s National Volunteer Month. The star-studded group volunteered during a food distribution at Food Bank parter St. Ferdinand’s Catholic Church. The celebrities helped provide our neighbors with essential food and nutrition support, including milk, fresh oranges, and shelf-stable food resources on April 28, 2022.
“As a person who prioritizes healthy meals for my own family, it just didn’t feel right to not help in some way when there were so many others struggling to feed their own families,” said Food Bank donor and guest blogger.
Herbert, 2020 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, donated $25,000 to the Food Bank. This funding helped allow the Food Bank to distribute 100,000 meals throughout Los Angeles County to benefit children and families during the holiday season.
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