Around Town in South County: A Roundtable w/the CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank

On Tuesday July 15,  we at "Outsiders"  joined a roundtable with the CEO of Second Harvest of Orange County at Polly's in Laguna Hills.    As she shared updates on the initiatives, the statistics that was most impressive was how they distributed 20 Million Pounds of Food during 2013 which translated into around 15-16 Million Meals..

They have launched a number of initiatives for 2014.   One very exciting initiative is the Edible Farm that is a 5-Acre Farm on the grounds of the Great Park.    Some One hundred Fifty Thousand pounds of food has been harvested from the Farm.    Kids Cafe and School Pantry programs are some of the more innovative ways in which children with free or reduced meal are able to receive a meal.  They have identified the pilot schools which will be launched this year.  It was gratifying to see the broad public-private coalition that is backing the initiatives.    Walmart, for instance, is funding a new truck to help with some of the outreach efforts at schools.

Beyond the on-going ground work, another exciting initiative is WastenotOC to be able to gather up food that is not used by Restaurants to be utilized by organizations including Second Harvest Food Bank.  Beyond the initaitives, what was quite impressive to note was how they were able to retire their debt and were working on a long-term strategic reserve.  We look forward to sharing updates on the work of Second Harvest Food Bank here and urge all to contact Second Harvest Food Bank to assess opportunities to contribute.