4-H Members to Seek Food for Needy

Ventura County 4-H members will be out on Halloween in hopes of scaring up about 100,000 pounds of food to feed needy families this holiday season.

Along with asking for the usual sweet treats, 4-Hers will go door to door Saturday night seeking nonperishable food, which will be donated to Food Share Inc.

The program, Trick or Treat So Others Can Eat, begins this year’s holiday food drive.

Food Share, a nonprofit organization that provides food to the needy throughout the county, will see its demand jump from 33,000 people monthly to 38,000 during November and December.

“The fact that these kids have come forward to help others in need, it’s just great,” Susie Burmester of Food Share said. “We try to raise 100,000 pounds of food during these weeks. But now that 4-H is involved, maybe we can raise even more than that.”

Rio Mesa High School junior Rachelle Gould is co-chairing the food drive with Sheriff Bob Brooks. Brooks and Rachelle signaled the start of this year’s drive at a ceremony Wednesday in front of Food Share’s Oxnard office.

Rachelle said the group picked up the Trick or Treat So Others Can Eat strategy from a 4-H group in Arizona. It’s all part of the group’s effort to move away from its traditional agricultural focus and more toward community service.

“We thought this was a perfect way to serve the community,” Rachelle said. “It gives people a chance to go out and have fun and do something good at the same time.”

The 4-H groups have mailed invitations to other youth groups--including church groups, Scout troops and YMCA organizations--asking them to also pick up food while collecting treats.

The club is seeking participants and is asking anyone interested to call the 4-H office in Ventura at 645-1470.