VENTURA COUNTY ROUNDUP : OXNARD : Restaurants Raise $3,000 for Food Bank

Ventura County’s largest food bank has received a $3,000 donation from the local chapter of the California Restaurant Assn. to help boost meal programs in area schools and shelters.

The gift, presented this week to Oxnard-based FOOD Share, represents proceeds from a charity golf tournament, sponsored in July by the newly formed restaurant association.

The money will benefit feeding programs at homeless shelters, group homes and shelters for abused women and children. The money will also be used to augment FOOD Share’s new Kids Cafes, after-school meal programs held at 11 campuses countywide.

“It’s just been a really great connection for the food bank,” said Jewel Pedi, FOOD Share’s program director. “This is a great new partnership with the restaurants of Ventura County to help us expand our programs.”

Working through about 200 nonprofit agencies, FOOD Share serves more than 300,000 meals a month to more than 34,000 people throughout the county. To donate food, or for more information on the organization, call Pedi at 983-7100.