BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Due to the current economic state amid the coronavirus pandemic, many across the nation are trying to making sure there's food on the table. In Bakersfield, the Community Action Partnership of Kern has seen its demand for food almost double.
Seeing a need in the community 23ABC and the Scripps Howard Foundation made a $12,000 donation to help those facing food insecurity. 23ABC's Kylie Walker explained how every dollar makes a difference.
Jeremy Tobias, the CEO of CAPK, told 23ABC that for each dollar donated they can purchase 7 lbs of food. And that means with this new donation they can provide 84,000 lbs of food to those in need.
“Because of our purchasing ability and discounts that we receive as a food bank we're able to stretch those dollars so 7lbs of food goes a long way in feeding people.”
Monday afternoon 23ABC's Jessica Harrington presented the $12,000 check on behalf of the state and the Scripps Howard Foundation to CAPK.
"There are a lot of families now coming into the food banks that have never needed to seek services in the past," said Tobias. “We were averaging about 1.3 million lbs monthly. It's now surpassing 2.6 million lbs a month that we are distributing through the food bank now to the families here in Kern County.”
“Right now I have about 2 months of food here and I want to say I have about 3.4 million pounds of food here now,“ said Program Manager Jamie Orona, who oversees 135 distribution sites throughout the county.
In order to make sure that everything is fresh they have a managing system that is able to track food donations by the date they come in. Orona said with the current high demand most of the food does not go to waste or expire."
He said it’s the little things that keep him going.
“You see kids who are grateful to just see a peach or a plum and they’ll start eating it right there and just their face glows up.“
- You can donate to the Community Action Partnership of Kern.
- Find out if you qualify for assistance.
- For a full list forCAPK locations throughout Kern County.
