Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry Teams with Local Schools for Feinstein $1 Million Hunger Challenge

To capitalize on a millionaire’s dream of eliminating hunger through grassroots involvement, the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry invited local schools to team up for the “2nd Annual Students Against Hunger in the SCV—Spring Food Drive 2006.” The winning school will receive an award from the SCV Food Pantry.

“We ask schools to help us with two food drives each year. By scheduling their spring food drive during the months of March and April, local schools can leverage their giving with the ‘Feinstein $1 Million Giveaway to Fight Hunger,’ ” explains Executive Director Belinda Crawford. “It’s a win-win situation because our clients benefit immediately from the food and cash donations made during the two-month ‘Students Against Hunger’ drive. Then our portion of the Feinstein Giveaway provides additional financial support later in the year.”

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.

The Food Pantry currently has over 3400 clients, 51% of whom are children In addition, the Pantry serves an average of 130 senior citizens each month. Over 60 volunteers work with Crawford to solicit donations, sort food and prepare bags for distribution.

Crawford also emphasized that individual community members can help with the Feinstein challenge. “All food and cash donations to the SCV Food Pantry during March and April as a result of the Feinstein Giveaway will count toward our proportional grant. If you don’t have a child in school, you can still participate by making a donation. Your donation will help with the commitment that no child in the Santa Clarita Valley should go to bed hungry. Please write Feinstein Challenge on the memo line of our check so that we can be sure to count it toward this grant.”

The Giveaway divides one million dollars proportionately, up to a maximum of $50,000 per organization, among all agencies that participate in the program. The Food Pantry tracks the donations generated by the Feinstein Challenge. Based on the total received, the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry will receive a proportional share of the $1,000,000.

Alan Feinstein has been sponsoring the $1 Million Challenge for nine years and has helped raise over $350M for agencies to fight hunger all over the United States. He wanted to encourage citizens in each community to become partners in a successful grassroots campaign to fight hunger. For information about Mr. Feinstein, please go to his web site at www.feinsteinfoundation.org.

For information about food donations or volunteering opportunities at the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry, please call Belinda Crawford at 661-255-9078.