L.A. Food Bank Event: December 22, 2018

There is no better high than volunteering. It’s a feel-good, selfish act that I’ve become addicted to over the years. Why selfish? Because of the joy and pride I feel EVERY single time I’ve done it. Sure, I’m out there spending precious hours “giving back”, but the truth is –– the gratification is beyond anything I’ve personally experienced. Best. High. Ever.

Here in Los Angeles, there are so many ways to step up. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is a personal favorite. Did you know that one in seven people is struggling with food insecurity and hunger in Los Angeles County. ONE IN SEVEN. That’s insane.

Since 1973, the L.A. Food Bank has distributed more than 1 billion pounds of food. The Food Bank collects food (both canned and FRESH) from hundreds of resources.

“With the help of 30,000 volunteers annually and an agency network of more than 650 partner agencies, we serve more than 300,000 people on a monthly basis.”

There are several ways you can help the L.A. Food Bank: Organize a group to sort food at one of their warehouses, make a one-time donation or (if it’s within your budget), set up monthly donations.

“Every $1 donated provides enough food for 4 meals to feed hungry children, seniors and families. Community support enables the Food Bank to serve more than 300,000 people on a monthly basis.”

Ready to give back (and have some fun)? There’s an epic event happening on December 22.

Join Bruce Kalman, Tyler Anderson, Nick Shipp, Dave Grohl, and Duff Goldman on Saturday, Dec 22nd at the L.A. Food Bank. This afternoon of food and music was conceived by a group of friends (including Billy Harris, Paul Vitagliano & KC Mancebo) to help support the LA Regional Food Bank and their tireless work to alleviate hunger in our community.

LINE-UP

• Dave Grohl serving Backbeat BBQ
• Chefs Bruce Kalman & Tyler Anderson serving Square Peg Pizza
• Chef Nick Shipp serving sides & greens
• Desserts by Chef Duff Goldman
• Music by Foie Grock & more to be announced!

INFORMATION
Tickets are $100 (includes food, music, beer, wine & beverages)
Proceeds benefiting the LA Regional Food Bank

DATE AND TIME
Sat, December 22, 2018
1:00 PM – 4:30 PM

LOCATION
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
1734 East 41st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90058

Tickets will go quickly. Grab them here. 

See you there! Jo (@MyLastBite)

L.A. Chefs Food Bank Volunteer Day

We’re looking for L.A. restaurant chefs and cooks to volunteer at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank on Saturday, May 13, 2017. Together we’ll spend the morning sorting food at the main warehouse in downtown L.A.

Chefs & Cooks currently confirmed include:
Adam Perry Lang (Serious BBQ)
Akasha Richmond (Akasha)
Betty Fraser (Grub)
Matt Bata (Alexander’s Steakhouse)
Valerie Bertinelli (Food Network)
Vartan Abgaryan (71 Above)

If you’re interested in volunteering on May 13th, please register ASAP here.
Password: nohunger13
Space is limited.

After registering, you will receive an email with your “volunteer E ticket” and details on the day. Attached in the email you will also find a release form. Please bring the signed release form and E ticket on May 13th.

L.A. HUNGER FACTS (from the Food Bank website): One in seven people in Los Angeles County is at risk for hunger.  They are neighbors, children, seniors, families and friends. We help them by collecting food from various sources including retailers and farmers, and distributing it with the help of more than 650 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other agencies who supply it to those in need. When product is donated to the Food Bank, it often needs to be sorted, cleaned and repackaged. We call this gleaning. Volunteers are needed to assist with the gleaning process everyday.

For Every $1 Donated, The L.A. Food Bank Can Provide Enough Food For 4 Meals.

Our mission (at L.A. Bites Hunger) is simple: To bring our food community together and bring awareness to our local food bank using social media, such as Twitter and FaceBook. Please support us by re-tweeting, liking and sharing with your friends and followers.

Past chef volunteer event photos here and here

Please follow @LABitesHunger on twitter for upcoming events.

Follow the @LAfoodbank 

http://www.lafoodbank.org

$1 Provides 4 Meals

Did you know that 1 in 6 experiences hunger?

Please support our friends at the L.A. Foodbank.

Happy Holidays!

#FeedSoCal 2015 > Volunteers Needed

Please help spread the word for our friends at the L.A. Food Bank!

ABC7 and Southern California food banks have partnered up for the 4th Annual Feed SoCal hunger initiative throughout Southern California. The initiative takes place during the month of June and will include the following food banks: Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Second Harvest Food Bank Orange County, Second Harvest Food Bank Inland Empire and FOOD Share Ventura County.

Volunteers are needed to collect donations from Albertsons customers and “Stuff-A-Food Bank- Truck”. The Food Drive is located at the Albertsons in Gardena. The address is 1735 W. Artesia Blvd. Gardena, CA 90247.

The event is on air with ABC7’s Alysha Del Valle (L.A.’s Local ABC News). Volunteers are needed for the following shifts on Friday, June 19, 2015:

7:00 am to 10:00 am
9:00 am to 11:00 am
10:30 am to 1:30 pm
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
3:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Note: This is a family friendly event!

During tfficult economic times, one out of every six people in Southern California experiences food insecurity. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank serves one million people in Los Angeles County each year, but another 700,000 people need help. Second Harvest Food Bank Orange County helps feed more than 240,000 individuals each month, while the food bank in the Inland Empire serves more than 350,000 people each month. FOOD Share Ventura County is the only regional food bank in the country that provides food year-round to more than 74,500 children, adults, seniors and families each month.

If you are interested in volunteering please email
amartinez@lafoodbank.org ebeltran@lafoodbank.org or jmcilvain@lafoodbank.org or call 323.234.3030 ext.190 or ext. 156

If you can’t volunteer, please help spread awareness by following @LAfoodBank on twitter and liking them on facebook here.

About the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

#LAbitesHunger

@LAbitesHunger on twitter

L.A. Bites Hunger on facebook

$1 = 4 Meals

Did you know that 1 in 6 experiences hunger?

Please support our friends at the L.A. Foodbank.

Happy Holidays!

#GivingTuesday is December 2nd

Help us support the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Every $1 donated equals 4 meals. Donate to @LAFoodBank to help feed 100,000 people on #GivingTuesday (12/2/14).

Click here to donate.

L.A. Food Bank’s Family Day w The WienerMobile!

Sharing The Joy
by Jo Stougaard

A day with the WienerMobile. How did THAT happen?

Last month I saw a photo of the WienerMobile on twitter and retweeted “on my BucketList“. In case you’re not familiar with the term, “bucket list” refers to something on a “list of things to do” in life. A few hours later I received an email from Kelsey (who works with Oscar Mayer) with “Ride in the WienerMobile” in the subject line.

After the initial shock and excitement (it really has been a dream since I was a kid!), I thought about upcoming events on my calendar. Perhaps a ride in the WienerMobile to a hot, new restaurant opening downtown? I was about to cover the L.A. Times Food Festival at Paramount Studios, so that was another option. If my nieces and nephews were still in grade school, I would’ve loved to surprise them with the giant hotdog on wheels. Better yet, how about a visit to the L.A. Regional Food Bank? THAT sounded perfect. L.A. Bites Hunger has been supporting the Food Bank via social media and special chef events, so it seemed a good fit. Both the Food Bank and Oscar Mayer thought so too.

The Food Bank had already scheduled a “Family Day” for September 27th, where volunteers as young as 5 years old could help sort and package food for local pantries. At 8am on the 27th, the giant, shiny WienerMobile pulled up and parked in front of the house. My husband Peter was probably more excited than I was and ran out before me. We met our “Hot Dogger” team, “Jess Cookin'” and “Spicy Salami Spencer”, who were so kind and kept us laughing with hot dog puns (put on your “meat belt”!) all day. The WienerMobile seats four guests, so we invited fellow L.A. Bites Hunger volunteers Susan and Chanel to ride with us. As we checked out the WienerMobile, neighbors stopped by to photograph and ask questions. It was amazing to see our normally subdued neighbors as giddy as we were.

Driving on the freeway was quite an adventure. People reacted the same as we passed them (fyi, the WienerMobile is fast!), total surprise, then pure joy as they tried to snap photos. When we exited the freeway downtown and neared the L.A. Food Bank, driver Spencer hit the horn for the first time. This is no regular car or truck horn mind you! When the button is pressed, the WienerMobile lets out the familiar first line of the classic song, “I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener”.

After we parked at the Food Bank, we all went in for volunteer orientation and then to the warehouse for assignments. L.A. Bites Hunger helped pack backpacks for children on this visit. Besides sorting food for 670 local food pantries and hunger agencies, the Food Bank Backpack program guarantees that kids in need, who get free lunch on school days, have food over the weekend too. Hot Doggers Jess and Spencer jumped right in to volunteer with us, and it made for a super fun and satisfying morning.

Next we all headed out to the WienerMobile, where Jess and Spencer invited the families and employees to check out the vehicle, sit inside and take photos. Each person was given a “wiener whistle” of course, which made everyone (kids and parents) even happier.

Huge thanks to Hot Doggers Jess and Spencer, WienerMobile and Kelsey at Olson (who initially contacted me). It was just an absolute pleasure to the share the joy.

Many more photos HERE.

The L.A. Regional Food Bank

How to become a Hot Dogger

Look Around.

Fact: 1 in 6 people in L.A. County suffer from food insecurity.

Please help support the L.A. Food Bank by following them on twitter (and sharing posts) or donating here.

Follow @LAfoodBank on twitter

Donate to the Food Bank

 

(Graphic via L.A. FoodBank)

Supporting the L.A. Food Bank

If you’d like to donate to the L.A. Food Bank, go to the website here.

Photos from our August 10, 2013 Volunteer event

NOTE: Many thanks to those inquiring about volunteering this weekend, but we are completely filled for the 11/16/13 volunteer event. Please follow @LABitesHunger on twitter for upcoming events.

L.A. HUNGER FACTS (from the Food Bank website): One in six people in Los Angeles County is at risk for hunger.  They are neighbors, children, seniors, families and friends. We help them by collecting food from various sources including retailers and farmers, and distributing it with the help of more than 650 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other agencies who supply it to those in need. When product is donated to the Food Bank, it often needs to be sorted, cleaned and repackaged. We call this gleaning. Volunteers are needed to assist with the gleaning process everyday.

Our mission (at L.A. Bites Hunger) is simple: To bring our food community together and bring awareness to our local food bank using social media, such as Twitter, FaceBook and Instagram. Please support us by re-tweeting, liking and sharing with your friends and followers.

Note: For Every $1 Donated, The L.A. FoodBank Can Provide Enough Food For 4 Meals.

http://www.lafoodbank.org

More about the Food Bank

L.A. Chefs Volunteering at L.A. Food Bank!

Thank you ALL for volunteering with us last weekend!
Photos here and here

On Saturday, August 10th, many of L.A.’s best chefs and food lovers will be joining L.A. Bites Hunger at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Together we’ll spend the morning sorting food at the main warehouse in downtown L.A.

Chefs volunteering include:
Adam Perry Lang (Serious BBQ)
Akasha Richmond (Akasha)
Betty Fraser (Grub, Top Chef)
C.J. Jacobsen (Girasol, Top Chef)
Debbie Lee (Author of Seoultown Kitchen, Next Food Network Star)
Eduardo Ruiz (Corazon y Miel)
Freddy Vargas (Scarpetta)
Hiroyuki Naruke (Q)
Jazz Singsanong & Tui Sungkamee  (Jitlada Thai)
Jeff Mahin (Stella Barra)
Josiah Citrin (Melisse, Lemon Moon)
Laurent Quenioux (Bistro LQ, Top Chef Masters)
Ludo Lefebvre (Trois Mec, The Taste, Top Chef Masters, LudoBites)
Michael Cimarusti (Connie & Teds, Providence, Top Chef Masters)
Michael Voltaggio (ink, Top Chef, Food & Wine’s Best New Chef)
Nguyen Tran (Starry Kitchen)
Phillip Lee (Scratch Bar)
Remi Lauvand (Cafe Pierre)
Ricardo Zarate (Mo Chica, Picca, Paiche, Food & Wine’s Best New Chef)
Vartan Abgaryan (Cliff’s Edge)

Volunteering along-side the chefs will be several food industry friends, writers and supporters including our good friend (and food lover) actress, Valerie Bertinelli (Hot In Cleveland).

NOTE: Many thanks to those inquiring about volunteering this weekend, but we are completely filled for the 8/10/13 volunteer event. Please follow @LABitesHunger on twitter for upcoming events.

L.A. HUNGER FACTS (from the Food Bank website): One in six people in Los Angeles County is at risk for hunger.  They are neighbors, children, seniors, families and friends. We help them by collecting food from various sources including retailers and farmers, and distributing it with the help of more than 650 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other agencies who supply it to those in need. When product is donated to the Food Bank, it often needs to be sorted, cleaned and repackaged. We call this gleaning. Volunteers are needed to assist with the gleaning process everyday.

Our mission (at L.A. Bites Hunger) is simple: To bring our food community together and bring awareness to our local food bank using social media, such as Twitter, FaceBook and Instagram. Please support us by re-tweeting, liking and sharing with your friends and followers.

Read about How the FoodBank Works.

For those volunteers that are confirmed for August 10th, please note:

1. All volunteers are asked to complete a liability release prior to participating in programs at the Food Bank. Download, print and sign a copy of the release, found HERE. We will collect the forms from you when you check in. Look for the “L.A. Bites Hunger” green banner. In case you forget your form, we will have extra copies available.

2. Volunteers must wear closed toe shoes. No sandals or open toe shoes allowed in the warehouse.

3. Our scheduled volunteer time is 9am to noon. Parking is limited within the facility but there is plenty of street parking nearby (carpooling is encouraged). Please plan to arrive by 8:45am to check-in. We will have bottled water and caffeinated beverages on hand for our volunteers.

4. Gelson’s Markets is proud to partner with L.A. Bites Hunger and has generously donated T-Shirts for our first L.A. Food Bank event. Volunteers are not required to wear the shirts on Saturday, but we’d love to get a group photo to share! THANK YOU GELSON’S Markets!

Photos of the Food Bank

Directions

From 1-10 West:
Exit Alameda Street.
Turn left and head south on Alameda Street.
Drive south on Alameda for approximately 1 mile.
Turn right on East 41st Street.
The food bank is located at 1734 East 41st Street, between Alameda Street and Long Beach Avenue.

For those not attending this Saturday:
Please follow @LAbitesHunger on twitter. We will be tweeting live along with our volunteer chefs. Use hashtags #LAbitesHunger #FEEDLA to retweet and repost.

If you’d like to donate to the L.A. Food Bank, just text FEEDLA to 80888. You’ll receive a confirmation text. Confirm your one-time donation of $10 by replying YES!

Note: For Every $1 Donated, The L.A. FoodBank Can Provide Enough Food For 4 Meals.

http://www.lafoodbank.org

More about the Food Bank