LOS ANGELES — January 13, 2022 — The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank was awarded a $1,000,000 grant from the S. Mark Taper Foundation to benefit the Building Hope Campaign. This grant will support the Food Bank’s efforts to combat hunger in the local community and work to address the increased needs of our communities due to COVID-19.

With the generous support from the S. Mark Taper Foundation, the Food Bank will continue the process of transforming a warehouse in the City of Industry into a state-of-the-art food distribution center that will significantly increase our capacity and efficiency. The project will expand our freezer/cooler capacity and include a volunteer center, cold dock, sustainability center, food kit production center and food rescue center.

In honor of this generous grant, the new food rescue center will be named after the S. Mark Taper Foundation. The food rescue center plays a key role in the Food Bank’s operations, providing space for volunteers to glean and sort donated food and preventing perfectly good nutritious food from becoming food waste.

“As a nonprofit organization, the LA Regional Food Bank relies on the generosity of our community to continue our essential work,” said Food Bank President and CEO, Michael Flood. “This transformational gift from the S. Mark Taper Foundation will allow us to improve our infrastructure and benefit our neighbors in need for years to come.”

The Food Bank is thankful to the S. Mark Taper Foundation for its commitment to helping communities with the greatest needs. Prior to the pandemic, the Food Bank and our Partner Agency Network served roughly 300,000 people each month, but now, that number is closer to 900,000.

To learn more about the Food Bank’s new facility, please visit the Food Bank’s Building Hope Campaign webpage.

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 1.35 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.