SAN FERNANDO : City Hopes to Give Food Baskets to 150

As residents head out for the famed after-Thanksgiving buying blitzes, volunteers in San Fernando would like to add a few items to shopping lists--food, clothes and cash for the needy.

The city is gearing up for its annual food basket drive, hoping to gather enough canned or packaged food by Dec. 15 to be able to deliver baskets to about 150 families.

The gift program has been an institution for the San Fernando Police Department, said Bruce Cohen, executive vice president of the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce, which now organizes the drive. Initially, about 25 baskets were distributed each year, but the program has started to swell in the last few years, and police officers and volunteers now pass out as many as 150 baskets, he said.

“One of the great highlights of the food drive is we set the police up with food baskets and the police themselves deliver the food to families,” said Cohen. “We think it develops a very positive link with the public.”

Last year, the San Fernando Police Department and the chamber started to coordinate efforts with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division, which has also conducted a food and toy giveaway in its patrol area.

“We were each going after all of these food companies,” said Cohen. “It just seemed like it would be a more efficient system to coordinate it together.”

The San Fernando Police Department is mailing letters to local businesses soliciting food, cash and clothing, and is taking information about needy families, said Leticia Castillo, secretary to the police chief.

Already, the department’s list of families is growing, she said. “Last year, apparently 150 of the baskets were delivered,” said Castillo, who is coordinating the program for the department for the first time.

Both the police and chamber rely on volunteers to keep the program rolling. Among them is Tom Santelmann, who has been assembling food baskets for about six years.

“My dream is to open up a food bank,” said Santelmann, a machinist for the Magic Mountain theme park. “Some people want to get rich. I want to give out food, believe it or not.”

Together with a band of friends, Santelmann usually can get as many as 25 baskets together, Cohen said.

“Me and my friends, when we were kids, we were on the receiving end of the baskets,” said Santelmann. “Now it’s our chance to give something back.”