Countywide : Food Drive Will Be Held at Crystal Court

The Food Distribution Center is holding a food drive and will host an educational exhibit at South Coast Plaza’s Crystal Court beginning Saturday.

The exhibit will include a 25-foot-tall sculpture of the Eiffel Tower, made of cans, and displays that will showcase the sponsors, donors and volunteers who have contributed to the Food Distribution Center since its inception nearly a decade ago. There will also be food collection barrels at the mall.

“This display is both to thank those who have helped us through the years and to educate the public on the hunger problem in Orange County,” said Deana Sherman Weaver, spokeswoman for the center.

The center is a private, nonprofit food bank in Orange that distributes donated and surplus food to more than 200 agencies in the county. The agencies then distribute the food to individuals.

The number of people needing help is up from last year and continues to increase, according to Dan Harney, executive director of the center. Harney estimates that more than 400,000 people in Orange County are at risk of hunger, up 80,000 from just a decade ago.

“That means that if they aren’t helped by friends, family or social service agencies, they go to bed hungry,” Harney said.

Of those 400,000, more than 180,000 received food from the center last year. That was an increase of more than 30,000 over the previous year’s total. About 42% of the people were children and 16% were elderly, Harney said.

“In a county this affluent, that’s a shame,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s because people are uncaring. I think it’s because they aren’t aware of the problem.”

Harney estimates that only 23% of the county population is aware that there is a hunger problem. Most of those people are in need of help themselves, or are social service providers.

“I think only 5% of the general public knows that people in this county go to bed hungry,” Harney said. “It’s not their fault. Most people don’t have the opportunity to be exposed to the problem.”

The food drive and hunger exhibit will remain at Crystal Court through Oct. 29.