Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints invites public to share bounty for FAITH for FOOD Share

April 19, 2013 - PRLog -- (VENTURA COUNTY, Calif.) – FAITH for FOOD Share, a weeklong food and funding drive by Ventura County faithful, will take place the week of April 22-27.

Sponsored by Ventura County Interfaith Community and Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association, the donation drive – an idea that came to fruition by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – encourages churches and synagogues of all religious backgrounds in Ventura County to host internal food drives during this week to help FOOD Share in its mission to end hunger in the community.

“Support and help from our faith-based communities is so important to FOOD Share and is still very much needed; people from all faiths and walks of life have the common goal to help end hunger,” explains Bonnie Weigel, president and CEO of FOOD Share. “We are humbled to have the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints step forward to involve our faith-based community in Ventura.”

Donations will collected at four Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints locations in Camarillo and Oxnard on Saturday, April 27:
•   1201 Paseo Camarillo, Camarillo, Calif.
•   4345 Las Posas Road, Camarillo, Calif.
•   1150 Gary Drive, Oxnard, Calif.
•   3301 Gonzales Road, Oxnard, Calif.

FOOD Share currently serves 74,500 hungry friends per month and distributes more than 9 million pounds of food each year to those in need throughout Ventura County – a number that represents a 58.8 percent increase in demand since 2010.

For more information about how to coordinate a food drive at a local worship center for FAITH for FOOD Share week, contact Karen Jensen at 805-983-7100 ext. 135.

About FOOD Share:

The food bank distributing millions of pounds of food each year to those in need throughout Ventura County, FOOD Share collects and receives food year-round, distributing through more than 162 pantry partner agencies throughout Ventura County, including Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Oak View, Ojai, Oxnard, Santa Paula, Simi Valley, Somis, Thousand Oaks, and Ventura.

FOOD Share provides food to more than 74,500 people each month countywide through its partner agencies and multiple programs. Programs include the Senior Brown Bag that provides supplemental nutrition to nearly 2,000 low income seniors, home delivered meals and supplemental groceries through the Oxnard and Ventura Senior Nutrition Programs and, the Kids’ Farmers’ Markets, offering nutrition education, healthy recipe preparation and taste testing and a farmers’ market free fresh produce “shopping experience.”

In 2011, FOOD Share partnered with Ventura County’s Human Services Agency to provide expanded CalFresh enrollment assistance. CalFresh, formerly called food stamps, is the largest federal nutrition assistance program that provides supplemental nutrition assistance to eligible Ventura County residents.

For more information: call (805) 983-7100 or go to http://www.foodshare.com.