LOS ANGELES — May 14, 2021 — The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank announces “Building Hope: The Campaign for a Brighter Future,” a 165-million-dollar campaign to increase the Food Bank’s capacity to better fight hunger in our community. The campaign was quietly launched in 2019 to dramatically increase the Food Bank’s capacity to reach more people that are food-insecure in Los Angeles County. The Food Bank is now over 70% of the ambitious goal, raising more than $110 million from 90,000+ donors.

At some point in the month, between 20% and 25% of LA County’s population struggles to access nutritious food. Faced with a high cost of living, children, families, older adults and others find themselves skipping meals to pay other bills, including rent, utilities, medication, and the like. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the issue of food insecurity in LA County. With unemployment hitting over 20% in 2020, many people find themselves without income still in 2021. Even as LA County begins to reopen, many individuals in our community are still trying to recover from the economic fallout created by the outbreak. Before the pandemic, the Food Bank reached 300,000 people each month. Now, the number of people who seek help from the Food Bank each month is 900,000.

“Even before the pandemic, the need for food assistance in Los Angeles County was very high,” said Michael Flood, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. “This campaign will markedly increase the number of people we serve and the amount of food we can provide to those in LA County on an ongoing basis.”

Along with expanding our programs, the campaign enabled the Food Bank to purchase a 256,000 square foot warehouse in the City of Industry. The Food Bank is in the process of transforming this warehouse into a state-of-the-art distribution center and will increase our capacity and efficiency. The project will increase our freezer/cooler capacity and include a volunteer center, cold dock, sustainability center, food kit productions center and food rescue center. Naming opportunities are available.

To learn more about this campaign, visit: LAFoodBank.org/building-hope/

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About the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank has been mobilizing resources to fight hunger in Los Angeles County since 1973. To support the Food Bank’s vision that no one goes hungry in Los Angeles County, food and grocery products are distributed through a network of 700 partner agencies and directly to those in need through Food Bank programs. The Food Bank has distributed more than 1.7 billion pounds of food, the equivalent of 1.4 billion meals, since 1973. The total value of food and grocery product distributed since the Food Bank’s inception is $2.3 billion. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Food Bank tripled the number of people helped and now reaches 900,000 people every month. The Food Bank is a 4-star rated charity by Charity Navigator. For more information, visit LAFoodBank.org.