The Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry was established in 1986 by a small group of community volunteers. The SCV Food Pantry uses food donations from the community to provide supplemental food on a short-term basis to qualified local residents. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q. How many clients does the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry serve? A. The Food Pantry distributes food to over 950 families with approximately 1500 children in the Santa Clarita Valley at this time. The Pantry serves an average of 130 senior citizens each month. Q. How many volunteers do you have? A. Approximately 60 volunteers work together to sort food, prepare bags and assist clients. Q. Is the need in Santa Clarita that great? A. The Food Pantry reaches only 14% income-eligible families in Santa Clarita. We are working to increase that number to 30% by 2010. To help achieve these goals, the pantry has expanded to serve Acton/Agua Dulce residents and is looking for opportunities to increase our presence in the Canyon Country area. DID YOU KNOW THAT THE SANTA CLARITA FOOD PANTRY: +distributes over $400,000 in food and necessities to the needy of Santa Clarita every year. We do this with a volunteer board, lots of volunteer workers and only two part-time paid employees. +Los Angeles County is considered the hunger capital of our nation, with over 8% of our residents considered food insecure. +More than 16% of the households in the City of Santa Clarita earn less than $29,999 per year. -50% of the clients of The Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry are children. +Many of our Senior Citizens live on fixed incomes and are faced with the choice whether to purchase the medications they require or the food they need. The Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry could not exist without the support of the community and our volunteers. We are always in need of non-perishable foods and volunteer help. We are currently working with iCareNOW and select non-profits in Santa Clarita to optimize our efforts. Please see us on http://www.iCareNOW.tv and donate!

• published: 19 Mar 2009
• views: 1769