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本周的特色会员是 FIND Food Bank (Food In Need of Distribution), which serves the Coachella Valley in Riverside County. Like most food banks, FIND has found itself addressing a dramatic increase in need throughout its service area. In 2018, the overall food insecurity rate for Riverside County was 10%.
In 2020, it increased to 14.8%. They went from serving 90,000 individuals each month with 12+ million pounds of food distributed, to now serving 175,000+ individuals each month.
FIND answered the call by increasing the number of their mobile markets — where they distribute free fruit, vegetables, and other healthy food — by more than 100%. They added certified community health workers to their outreach staff, and increased their warehouse space and fleet to meet additional need. They added new programs such as Rapid Response Mobile Markets, “Just in Time” deliveries to rural mobile home communities, and delivery service for homebound clients.
“Los servicios proporcionan apoyo para madres solteras que no tienen los recursos necessarios para obtener alimentos.”
Minerva Bello, FIND Client
(“This service provides support for single mothers who don’t have the necessary resources to get food.”)
Amidst these changes, FIND has also focused on addressing the needs of one of their most vulnerable communities: farmworkers. As a member of CAFB’s Food Access for Farmworkers Initiative (FAFI), FIND is helping to strengthen the programs that serve California’s nearly 800,000 essential farmworkers.
“FIND Food Bank is a huge support and blessing to alleviate hunger for low-income families”
Our farmworkers are the foundation of our food supply chain — ensuring availability, quality, and safety of the entire nation’s food through heat, smoke, and pandemic. For FIND, this initiative has helped build important relationships.
“FAFI has helped us to have a consistent presence that has fostered trust in the farmworker community, by providing tailored services, critical information, & resources for COVID-19 and vaccination efforts.”
Lorena Marroquin, Director of Community Impact, FIND
Still, FIND faces challenges. Like other food banks, they are stretched to meet the heightened need for food; as a rural food bank, they also have unique transportation challenges in serving their more remote desert areas. But as Marroquin states, “FIND is unwavering in our mission to relieve hunger and its causes in the communities we serve.”
“The food provided is a huge help for feeding my family.”
We at CAFB are grateful for all the work FIND does to serve the Coachella Valley and its farmworkers.
All information and photos courtesy FIND Food Bank.
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