FOOD Share takes charity to warehouse
Part two in a three-part series
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers FOR THE NEEDY- Camarillo residents Dwayne Brown, left, and Hal Lane load boxes of green onions onto a dolly to take to Jehovah Jireh, a food pantry in Camarillo.

Although weakened wrists keeps Cecilia Rexford from lifting anything, it doesn't stop her from directing five other church volunteers from Camarillo on a recent shopping trip to FOOD Share.

The spirited Irish native tells one young man to hold the bottom of a box full of avocados as he carries it to his car and a retiree to take the package of 24 rolls of toilet paper instead of the one with 18 rolls.

For 17 years, Rexford has run the churchoperated Jehovah Jireh food pantry in Camarillo and for nearly as long has depended almost entirely on staples from FOOD Share to stock the shelves.

The Oxnard-based food bank's availability basically means that some 80 families in Camarillo have food on the table, Rexford said.

"We certainly wouldn't have the pantry in the form we have it now," she said. "I don't know what people did before FOOD Share. I really don't."

Rexford said that although some food donations trickle in, they're not enough to give even one canned good to the 300 or so people the pantry serves.

"Let's say 90 percent of the food comes through FOOD Share," Rexford said.

From humble beginnings

The county's largest food bank, which feeds 100,000 Ventura County residents a year through 150 partner agencies, started 30 years ago out of Jewel Pedi's garage. Moved by the compassionate concept of Leviticus 19:9, 10 in the Bible, Pedi and a couple of friends asked local farmers if they could glean their fields, or collect harvest leftovers, to feed the homeless. Soon friends and neighbors were joining them in the fields.

As word spread about the grassroots effort, large donations began rolling in and Pedi and the group needed more storage space. The city of Ventura allowed them to use a vacant fire station, and soon dozens of agencies and churches were at the door asking for provisions.

After a state senator helped the agency obtain a $1-million government grant, FOOD Share bought a warehouse in north Oxnard.

"I think we knew that from the beginning that it was going to expand," said Pedi, who at 80, still shows up to work every day. "I feel like God has directed my life to help others in their lives."

As FOOD Share's program director, Pedi tries to keep legislators aware of the plight of the county's hungry and undernourished. It's difficult, however, to explain the desperation of hunger to people who've never experienced it, she said.

"If you've ever been hungry, you'd realize it," Pedi said.

Funding is ongoing effort

Each year, FOOD Share transitions about 11 million pounds of food in and out of its two large warehouses to the county's needy, Manager Jeanne Benitez said.

Much of that food, along with other essential items, comes from a national food bank network, which charges affiliates only for shipping costs.

Additional overhead expenses include a paid staff of 26 full and part time employees. But FOOD Share has found ways to cut down on costs.

It relies on more than 550 volunteers- including forklift operators and truck drivers who retrieve food daily from bakeries and grocery stores around the county- to perform the bulk of the operations.

A Santa Paula cardboard manufacturer recently developed a special box just for FOOD Share partner agencies to transport food that doesn't require tape reinforcement.

That gesture alone saves the food bank $6,000 a year in tape purchases, Benitez said.

And for $16,000 some members of the board of directors personally built a conveyor system that makes sorting truckloads of donations easier for volunteers. A similar system would have cost about $120,000, Benitez said.

But despite millions of pounds of donations, some commodities are in short supply here. FOOD Share limits the number of meat items and packages of diapers and toilet paper- what Rexford calls "luxury items"- agencies can take.

So Rexford stockpiles meat until she has enough for all those who come to the weekly pantry. And she takes out of the packages individual diapers and toilet paper rolls and hands one each to a family.

Benitez said they began seeing a decline in protein donations a few years ago, when 99-cent stores became popular. Instead of donating food stuffs, many companies were selling them to secondary retail markets, she said. FOOD Share responded by forming a committee earlier this year to investigate other potential donation sources.

"We as food banks have to scramble and be more proactive about getting donations," Benitez said. "We do whatever we can to bring food in here," even purchasing it.

"It's an amazing tribute to Ventura County that so many people are concerned and willing to give of their time to come out here and help us," Benitez said.

Andy Murphy, a two-year FOOD Share employee who coordinates the gleaning program, said many of his coworkers could earn more money elsewhere but chose to stay because they find the work rewarding.

"Ever since I got here I've loved it," Murphy said.

To help cover overhead expenses, FOOD Share charges its 150 partner agencies, including the Camarillo pantry, 16 cents a pound for food. The nonprofit doesn't charge for fresh fruits and vegetable, however, in an effort to encourage healthy eating.

Benitez said the nominal fee accounts for only a small percentage of their $22 million annual budget. Grants and corporate donations make up a majority of their income, she said.

They make it possible to supply food to partner agencies and fund and expand FOOD Share's own programs, officials said.

"It's all about funding," Benitez said.

FOOD Share sends out a mobile pantry into county neighborhoods every week to hand out food. And it feeds more than 2,000 elderly, including 200 homebound seniors, through the Brown Bag and Senior Nutrition programs.

Another program supplies healthy snacks to 12 after-school sites throughout the county and another pays for a nutritionist to educate children in west county schools on how to live a healthy lifestyle.

Benitez said if they're able to obtain more funding they want to expand the program to the rest of Ventura County.

For details on FOOD Share, or to make a donation of time or money visit the website at www.foodshare.com or call (805) 983-7100, ext. 122, or Meg Horton at ext. 105.