- Video shows Vineland-Weedpatch Food Pantry located at Vineland School District.
- The food pantry was established by VSD's Superintendent Cindy Castro to help families during difficult times.
- Families can access the pantry by calling the district and scheduling an appointment to shop.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The Vineland School District is addressing food insecurity in the county by providing families with groceries free of charge. The Vineland-Weedpatch Food Pantry was established to help working families obtain food during difficult times.
"During difficult times we can come in here and stock up on basic needs." Thanks to those basic needs, Jeniffer Najera, decided to visit the food pantry for the first time, "Financially, it's a great help to our family."
Her children attend Sunset Middle School as Najera expressed her gratitude toward Cindy Castro, the Superintendent, for going out of her way to provide for those in need.
Castro says that normally, families are able to come in once a month, but if needed can stop by again.
"All our families are field laborers and you wouldn't think that there would be an insecurity since they work with food," said Castro, "but during the winter months people don't work and sometime they go on unemployment."
According to Castro, the Vineland-Weedpatch Food Pantry is one of the small handful of food pantries in Kern County.
"I know that there's a lot of churches that give out the commodity boxes once a month, so the difference with the pantry is that they're open all the time," said Castro.
The food pantry is stocked with groceries from Cap-K food bank and household items donated by the Boys and Girls Club.
There are no requirements to access the food pantry and that it is available to all families, like Najera's.
"We are grateful for Mrs. Castro's commitment to helping the families in the community through the programs that she has established," stated Najera.
The food pantry is open every day and families can access it by calling the district's office at (661) 845 3713, to schedule an appointment.
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