WEST SIDE FOOD BANK A NON-PROFIT CORPORATION

Our mission is to end hunger in our communities by providing access to free nutritious food through food acquisition and distribution, and by engaging the community and advocating for a strong food assistance network.

In the face of this sustained high need, we endeavor to provide the vulnerable populations our member agencies serve with as much fresh produce as possible, as well as with key staple items like eggs, rice, beans, and frozen chicken. We make acquiring fresh produce a priority because so much of our food goes to vulnerable populations who depend on our supply of fruits and vegetables for nearly all of the fresh produce in their diets.

Each person, and especially child, who consistently receives adequate amounts of our fresh produce, high-protein staples and low-fat items has the chance to be a better student or more self-sustaining member of society, as well as more confident and secure, with a stronger immune system and a reduced chance of developing diabetes, obesity, and other serious diet-related health problems.

Our member agencies know that they can rely on a consistent supply of nourishing staples for their clients every time they pick up food in our warehouse, including multiple types of fresh fruits and vegetables. We charge our member agencies what amounts to less than two cents per pound for the food they receive – far less than the food bank industry standard of 19-20 cents per pound, so that they can devote more time and resources to helping their clients achieve greater wellness and independence. We are active with the California Association of Food Banks (CAFB) and with the Westside Coalition to address the multiple factors affecting hunger and poverty and we work with the LA County Department of Public Social Services to facilitate CalFresh registration at our member food pantry sites.

WSFB is the primary food bank provider for virtually all the non-profit social service agencies with food assistance programs in Santa Monica, Venice, Culver City, West Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Inglewood and the LAX area. Our balanced variety of food reaches anyone in our service area who is in need of food assistance including low-income families with children; unemployed, under-employed and working poor people; seniors on fixed incomes and the frail elderly; women and children living in domestic violence shelters; homeless individuals; mentally ill, chronically ill and disabled individuals and food-insecure college students and veterans. Our food reaches approximately 108,000 unduplicated people annually, nearly half of whom are children.

Our member agencies come to our warehouse to pick up weekly food allotments, and/or receive food delivered from our Extra Helpings Westside prepared and perishable food rescue program. We currently supply more than 70 agencies with a balanced variety of nutritious foods. More than 90% of our food is distributed to individuals and families via food pantries that provide grocery bags. The rest is provided at shelters, transitional living sites, afterschool and preschool programs, community kitchens and most recently at direct distributions at VA sites and at local elementary schools and colleges.

Over the past two years, WSFB has engaged in limited direct service programs. We operate a weekly produce distribution for 150 veterans at the West LA VA hospital and provide bagged lunches for veterans at several local VA sites. We are also working with the Culver City Unified School District to provide a free farmers’ market-style distribution of fresh produce and high protein foods for high-need families that allows parents at several schools in the district to “shop” for food after dropping off their children, eliminating the need to visit a separate food pantry site. From June - August 2019 we ran the fourth year of our summer food bags for children program at several of our member food pantries. The program bolsters food security for children in the absence of school meals and eases the increased financial burden placed on parents during summer months. We provided supplemental food for over 6,000 children through the summer food bags program this year.

We are also providing high-protein items, pantry staples and fresh produce to food pantry and/or farmers’ market-style distributions at UCLA, Santa Monica College, West LA College, and Mount Saint Mary’s University to address the high rate of food insecurity among college students. We are exploring the possibility of working with other local colleges with large populations of food-insecure students to create distribution programs.

Westside Food Bank has been serving the community for nearly 40 years with a strong record of efficiency and providing valuable service for the donated dollar. Given the strong commitment and significant experience of our Board and staff, as well as our solid relationships with funders, community coalitions and other stakeholders, we are confident that Westside Food Bank is well-positioned to address the food security and nutrition needs of our community now and for years to come.

WSFB’s food assistance work last year provided more than 53,000 children and 55,000 adults in our service area with access to a steady supply of a wide range of nourishing foods. We are able to maximize donations of produce by participating in the California Association of Food Banks (CAFB) “Farm to Family” produce project, through which we share truckloads of produce from farms with other Food Banks throughout California at minimal cost. We also receive fresh produce through our prepared and perishable food rescue program Extra Helpings Westside. In acquiring and distributing food we adhere to the guidelines detailed in our official Nutrition Policy and for the past three years, more than half of the food distributed from our warehouse was fresh produce.