Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry Installs 2006 Officers

The Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry installed its 2006 officers and incoming President Dennis Luppens welcomed new and continuing officers over dinner Feb. 23 at Wild Thyme Café and Bakery.

“The last few years have been a time of tremendous accomplishment for the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry,” Luppens said. “We have grown our programs and the number of eligible clients we serve, and we have changed as an organization in order to accommodate a more comprehensive vision for the future.” Luppens thanked Executive Director Belinda Crawford and outgoing President Laura Morefield for being integral to the Food Pantry’s progress.

Luppens outlined the challenges faced by the incoming officers. The SCV Food Pantry has set an aggressive target of increasing the number of clients served in the Santa Clarita Valley from 14 percent of income-qualified individuals in 2005 to 30 percent by 2010. “We are here to serve our neighbors in need. There are more people in need than we currently reach and in order to serve them, we will need to manage our resources creatively and effectively.”

Luppens has been on the board for five years, serving as 1st vice president in 2005. He is a special district administrator for the city of Santa Clarita and a local resident. “Dennis has a fresh vision and a heartfelt commitment to our clients,” said Morefield. “With his extensive community contacts and personal dedication to our belief that ‘no child in the Santa Clarita Valley should go to bed hungry,’ I am confident that he will be an effective and dynamic leader for the Food Pantry.”

Other Officers include:
1st Vice President — Barry Gribbons
2nd Vice President — Mike Riley
Secretary — Jan Fear
Treasurer — Greg Santilli

Riley, Fear and Santilli are all continuing in their leadership roles at the pantry. Luppens praised them for their dedication and commitment to alleviating hunger in Santa Clarita.

Specific goals for the Food Pantry this year include increased grant funding for the pantry’s food programs, expansion of children’s programs to include a healthy baby educational and food component, and improved outreach to make sure as many eligible citizens of the Santa Clarita Valley as possible have access to the pantry’s services.

The Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry was established in 1986 by a small group of community volunteers. The pantry uses food donations from the community to provide supplemental food on a short-term basis to qualified local residents. Approximately 60 volunteers work together to sort food, prepare bags and assist clients.

The SCV Food Pantry has more than 3,400 clients, 51 percent of whom are children In addition, the pantry serves an average of 130 senior citizens each month. With the continued increase in the population of the Santa Clarita Valley, the Food Pantry has seen an increase of 7 percent in the client base for the past two years.

For information about food donations or volunteering opportunities at the Food Pantry, Executive Director Belinda Crawford can be reached at 661-255-9078 or on the web at www.scvfoodpantry.org.