Los Angeles Regional Foodbank
Cool people, doing some good...
Downtown at the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.
Founder of gearHABIT, Joel Cardinal, lent a hand with friends at the Los Angeles Food Bank. In an effort to give back to the community, gearHABIT and friends processed 3 pallets of fruit, contributing to the 78,000 lbs now ready to distribute to the needy.
"It was a great feeling, the time we contributed was for a great cause, I have a feeling this will become a habit," responded Cardinal when asked about his impressions.
The contributed time was spent sorting tangerines from donated suppliers. About sixteen stations of five people were setup throughout the staging area. Each staging area was provided with a cardboard tangerine container approximately 5.5' x 5.5' x 3'. Volunteers manually filtered out bad tangerines from good and repackaged fruit into smaller containers; ready for distribution to local senior and homeless shelters. "It might sound crazy, but we had a great time. No matter what you do, it's about what energy you bring, and we came to do great things and enjoy each others company."
From left, Bill Franz and Joel Cardinal sorting
tangerines.
The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank was founded in 1973, known then as the Grandview Foundation, by Tony Collier a Pasadena resident and cook. In order to manage the large amount of food donations, Collier shared the supplies with other organizations. Together with four community volunteers, Collier formed a Board of Directors to helm the Foodbank.
Growing from a two-car garage, to 2,600 square foot converted laundromat, to 10,000 square foot warehouse, and now a 96,000 square foot facility designed specifically for its intended purpose.
From its beginning in a two-car garage, the Foodbank moved into a converted 2,600 square foot dry cleaning facility on Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena. In 1983, it moved to a 10,000 square foot warehouse in El Monte. Wanting to reflect its focus on providing for Los Angeles County the organization changed its name to Los Angeles Regional Foodbank in 1986.
From upper left, Joel Cardinal, Bill Franz,
Jenny Franz, and Alex Soriano.
Food supplies are destined for nearly 900 member agency sites including abused and abandoned children homes, battered women shelters, senior centers, local food pantries, soup kitchens, AIDS hospices and more. In 2009, 54 million pounds of food was distributed thanks to volunteers, financial supporters, product donors and an agency network.
Local and national food manufacturers, wholesalers, supermarkets, restaurant suppliers, packers, processors and brokers reguallarly supply the Los Angeles Foodbank with food. The donated food is sorted, inspected, repackaged and distributes thousands of pounds of food each day with the help of dedicated volunteers. Typically, on a weekly basis charities order and pick up the products they need from the Foodbank. The donated food makes its way to needy families, children and individuals free of charge. Through these charities, close to 1 million people receive healthy meals each year.
Special thanks to gearHABIT and friends, Alex Soriano, Jenny Franz, and Bill Franz for contributing their time.
Get involved with the Los Angeles Food Bank and lend a hand.
To learn more about cool people and fun gear visit gearHABIT.com today!
gearHABIT and friends showing off their
tangerines.
Jenny brought her A-game and sorted faster than
the men!
Moments before the sorting began.
The rare pumperine!
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