Gene Haas Foundation makes hefty $50,000 contribution to Ventura County’s FOOD Share

May 14, 2013 - PRLog -- (VENTURA COUNTY, Calif.) – The Gene Haas Foundation presented FOOD Share President and CEO Bonnie Weigel with a check for $50,000 as a donation to support the Ventura County food bank’s mission to feed the hungry.

Weigel said the generous contribution will fund the recent investment of a hybrid loading truck that was a dire necessity for the food bank that works tirelessly to meet the growing population of people who seek FOOD Share’s assistance. FOOD Share currently helps feed 74,500 people each month, a number that reflects a 58.8 percent increase in demand since 2010.

“The need for a new truck was critical for us to have in order to fulfill our mission,” explained Randy Hinton, a member of FOOD Share’s board of directors and the food bank’s business resource chair committee. “This donation couldn’t have come at a more perfect time since we recently lost another vehicle. It’s wonderful how our community supporters always seem to come through for us when we need it most.”

The Gene Haas Foundation was established in 1999 to fund the needs of the local community and charities at the discretion of its founder, Gene Haas. Haas is also the founder and president of Haas Automation, once of the world’s leading machine tool manufacturers headquartered in Oxnard, Calif.

“Gene Haas believes in the work that Bonnie and her team does to help those in need,” said Peter Zierhut, vice president of European operations and special projects for Haas Automation. “We’re glad our donation will be able to provide this truck so FOOD Share’s funding can be used toward the most important work which is taking care of the people in the community.”

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 150 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.