Food Bank Shelves Full This Year : Charity: Group reports donations are up, allowing member agencies to feed more than 100,000 people each month.

Despite continuing cutbacks in federal aid and an uncertain economy, local donations to Ventura County’s largest food bank are up this year as more businesses and community groups join in to help.

“Given the tough times, we’re grateful for how much support we’re getting,” said Jim Mangis, executive director of Food Share. “There’s been a very generous response from the local community this Christmas.”

The Oxnard-based collective provides food to 258 member agencies across the county, including homeless shelters, senior centers, church pantries and homes for abused women and children. Combined, the agencies feed more than 100,000 people each month, or about one in seven county residents.

Although the need appears to have leveled off after years of steadily increasing, there has been a drop in government funding and food donations, Mangis said.

In recent years, the Department of Agriculture has cut its surplus food donations--which include everything from rice and beans to canned meat--from 2 million pounds a year countywide to less than 1 million, he said.

But the cuts have been made up in large part by increased contributions from local grocers, farmers and community groups. Several businesses, including biotech giant Amgen in Thousand Oaks and Harley’s Camarillo Bowl, have also helped by sponsoring their own food drives.

“The generosity has been incredible,” Mangis said. Growing community awareness about the hunger problem and the need for more local support is largely credited for the outpouring of goodwill, he said.

“I think as a nation what we’re saying is that local communities are going to have to do more to take care of their own,” Mangis said. “I think that message is starting to hit home.”

Several food banks and hot meal programs around the county also reported seeing an increase in donations.

In Moorpark, Catholic Charities, which provides food to farm worker families, recently received 12,000 pounds of holiday donations thanks to a food drive contest sponsored by local community groups, such as the Kiwanis Club. That surpasses donations received during the last two Christmas seasons.

“The donations this year have been superb,” said Ruben Castro, director of the Catholic Charities food bank. “We’re giving out 350 food baskets this Christmas.”

The Manna Food Bank in Thousand Oaks also got a welcome surprise last week from local firefighters who dropped off 5,000 pounds of food from their own collection programs.

“I can’t tell you how exciting it was to see a firetruck come in here loaded with food,” said Pauline Saterbo, administrator of Manna. “They had all of the good things we need for the holidays: sugar, coffee, baby formula, pancake mix, everything.”

At Project Understanding in Ventura, food donations to the homeless aid agency have been running equal or better than last year, officials said. The same is true at the Help of Ojai pantry.

Marlene Spencer, who runs the small Ojai bank, said that it had received donations from two or three new sources this year, including one young Ojai resident.

“There was an 11-year-old boy who recently celebrated his birthday by asking people not to give him gifts but instead to give food to the pantry,” Spencer said. “We ended up getting about 12 bags of groceries.”

Not all programs have done as well, though. Victoria Herrera, who runs a Ventura-based Meals-on-Wheels program that provides hot meals to more than 260 seniors and others daily throughout western Ventura County, said holiday donations are down.

“It’s been slower than last year,” Herrera said. “Christmas is just about here, and I’ve only received two turkeys.”

Mangis predicts that with proposed changes in federal welfare and food stamp programs, the number of people in the county who rely on food banks will grow.

“We know there will be cutbacks, and so we expect to see the numbers increase,” he said.

Mangis said Food Share recently expanded its 13,000-square-foot Oxnard warehouse by another 8,500 square feet to meet future demands. But he said the food bank is still struggling to raise money to purchase a freezer and cooler for the new addition. So far, Food Share has raised $50,000 of the $140,000 needed.

Mangis said an increasing amount of food received by the food bank is either fresh or frozen and so the new refrigeration system is critical. As it is, he said, Food Share must turn away five to seven truckloads of food every month.

FYI

Food and money donations to Food Share may be dropped off at its Oxnard warehouse between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, at 4156 N. South Bank Road.