Food Drive Seeks Donations by the Barrel

Standing in front of a large stack of green barrels used to collect food, Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks on Monday announced the start of the annual Holiday Challenge Food Drive that aims to collect 100,000 pounds of food to feed the hungry during the holidays.

Food Share, the county’s largest food bank, is sponsoring the fourth annual campaign that will kick into high gear this weekend with a Halloween night collection program. Youth volunteers in costume will be out trick-or-treating for canned goods and other food donations.

“Food Share meets the most basic of needs for a share of the population that goes hungry during the holidays,” said Brooks, the honorary chairman of the annual food drive. “There is a vital need, and we urge residents of Ventura County to help us.”

As part of the countywide collection program, large green and red metal barrels will be delivered to schools, community organizations or businesses that will use them to collect nonperishables during the holidays.

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The food will be transferred to 35-pound bags and distributed to about 60 county charity organizations such as the Salvation Army and local churches.

Food Share hopes to provide each recipient with a food box filled with a week’s worth of groceries, said Jim Mangis, executive director of Food Share. He said the organization is hoping to collect 2,000 donated turkeys.

“A lot of people end up with frozen turkeys--if they can get five of them, we will send our freezer truck to pick them up.”

Mangis said the barrels will be used to collect food items that are hard to come by, such as canned meats, sauces and cranberries.

“This is a community effort where we are trying to get high quality canned food that we wouldn’t ordinarily have,” he said. “If everybody gives just a little, we end up with a mountain of food. As long as people fill up the barrels, we’ll distribute it.”

Food Share provides food to more than 38,000 people per month, according to spokeswoman Susie Burmester. “During the holidays the need becomes so intense we service 43,000 people just during that three-month period. There are hundreds of people that economically are not making it and can’t feed themselves or their families.”

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The “Trick or Treat so Others Can Eat” program was developed last year by a community youth organization to help boost donations, Mangis said.

“I think this is a great project,” he said. “We want to get the word out that kids are going to be asking for food, and it doesn’t mean they are asking for another Pop Tart for themselves.”

Mangis said last year the youth group collected 5,000 pounds of food; they hope to double that this year.

“The numbers [of donations] have gone up every year, and we expect them to go up this year,” he said. “This is when we focus and get the whole community involved.”