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Save Mart & FoodMaxx “Feed the Need” Community Food Drive
Encouraging the Fresno County Community to Give Local & Save Big
The Save Mart and FoodMaxx “Feed the Need” Community Food Drive will return to The Big Fresno Fair for its sixth year on Thursday, October 9 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fair patrons who bring 5 or more cans of food or other non-perishable food items to The Big Fresno Fair gates will receive free Fair admission in return. Due to the increased need in our community, The Big Fresno Fair, The Salvation Army and Community Food Bank, are encouraging Fair patrons now more than ever to join this effort along with partners Wells Fargo, Univision 21, Univision Radio and CBS 47.
Donations at Fair-time food drive should be non-perishable food like canned meat, canned soup, canned vegetables or fruit, pasta, beans, rice or cereal.
While this food drive effort provides a great opportunity for Fair patrons to affordably attend The Big Fresno Fair, it holds a deeper meaning and an even greater purpose to the overall effort to stop hunger in our community. As the need for emergency food assistance among families continues to grow and the face of hunger expands, The Salvation Army and Community Food Bank cannot meet the need without our community coming together in support of their efforts.
“The overall message is simple. The need for food is great and the need is now,” said Captain Dwaine Breazeale, County Coordinator for The Salvation Army. “We need the communities of Fresno County to come together and step up to the challenge. Help your fellow community. Every donation makes a difference and if every member of our community donates it will add up and have a large impact!”
Currently, there are 603,254 people living in poverty in Fresno, Madera, Kings, Kern and Tulare Counties that are unable to provide food for themselves and their families. Within the last two years, the need for food assistance has increased by 430%. The Salvation Army and Community Food Bank work together to not only provide food to those families in need in the Central Valley, but other forms of assistance and education.
“Hunger reaches deep into the community, especially in the current economic climate. With the holidays approaching, we’re beginning to look for new sources of assistance to feed those in need,” said Andy Souza, CEO, Community Food Bank. “The community can help us by donating their time, financial resources or non-perishable food items in support of the 1 in 4 Valley residents who experience food hardship each day.”
As an agricultural-based Fair, The Big Fresno Fair is proud to stand behind this program but an effort like this doesn’t continue to successfully grow or maintain its status as a record-holding food drive on its own; it takes planning, organization and most importantly community stewardship from both the public and local businesses.
The success of the “Feed the Need” Community Food Drive over the past five years is attributed to an increase in monetary and bulk food donations from local businesses and individuals, including a very generous donation from Wawona Frozen Foods totaling more than 40,000 pounds of food over the last two years. In the last five years because of immense support from our partners and the community, we’ve been able to collect over 310 tons of food – helping make a big difference in the effort to provide emergency food assistance to those in need.
This year with the growing need, the Fair is encouraging more local businesses to stand up and join the cause by making bulk food donations or monetary donations that will go directly to Community Food Bank and The Salvation Army as part of the “Feed the Need” Community Food Drive effort. For every $1 donated, The Salvation Army and Community Food Bank can buy $8 worth of food through their bulk suppliers!
For those local businesses able to make large bulk food or monetary donations, special recognition opportunities will be available as a “thank you” for support. With help from our local community, The Big Fresno Fair looks forward to helping in the fight against hunger and providing assistance to those who have nowhere else to turn. Remember, it’s important to not only Buy Local, but to Give Local.
Volunteers are also needed to help staff the Save Mart & FoodMaxx “Feed the Need” Community Food Drive on October 10. Interested in volunteering? Contact our partners: The Salvation Army, Captain Debbie Breazeale at (559) 233-0138 or online. and Community Food Bank, Sarah Pedelty at (559) 237-3663 ext. 106 or online.