Food Bank Needs More Deposits

In the weeks after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, more than 12,000 people employed at Los Angeles International Airport or in the local airline industry were thrown out of work.

With their lives turned upside down, some could no longer afford regular meals.

This crisis, as those in the hunger business characterize it, continues to be felt at the Westside Food Bank in Santa Monica. More than 14 months after the attacks, the nonprofit group still can’t keep pace with demand.

“We just sent 3,100 pounds of food to one agency,” said Bruce Rankin, executive director of the food bank. “They would have liked 6,000 pounds.”

The food bank collects and ships more than 3 million pounds of food each year to 65 agencies in the western Los Angeles basin; recipients include food pantries, shelters for the homeless and churches.

More than 80,000 people, Rankin said, have eaten at least one meal supplied by the food bank in 2002.

The nonprofit agency is among dozens of Southern California organizations that have received donations from the Los Angeles Times Holiday Campaign. During this season’s fund-raising drive, The Times is featuring charities that provide a range of services to families and youths in the region.

On the Westside, many people are surprised by the number of hungry people in the surrounding well-heeled communities, Rankin said.

“For people who live here in Santa Monica, in particular, it’s hard to understand,” he said. “Most of what they know about poverty comes from seeing homeless people in the street, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.”

Many of the working poor face a cruel decision. “It’s either pay rent or eat,” said Judy Alexander, associate director of the St. Joseph Center, a recipient of the food bank’s goods. Free food, she said, allows many people to pay for a place to live.

But donations to the food bank are down; a reeling stock market has caused charitable foundations to rein in their giving. Because of that, this year’s budget at the food bank will be $50,000 less than the budget for 2001, Rankin said.

One recent morning, the food bank’s warehouse was partly filled with sacks of rice and beans and boxes of bananas, cans of spaghetti sauce and macaroni. Hanging from a loft above the boxes was a banner with the group’s motto: “Working for a hunger free community.”

It’s a mission that keeps getting harder to accomplish, said Rankin, surrounded by the large stockpile of food that still wasn’t enough.

The Times’ annual Holiday Campaign, established in 2000, is a part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. The foundation matches the first $700,000 raised at 50 cents on the dollar.

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HOW TO GIVE

Donations (checks or money orders) supporting the Holiday Campaign should be sent to: L.A. Times Holiday Campaign, File 56986, Los Angeles, CA 90074-6986. Please do not send cash. Credit card donations can be made on the Web site www. latimes.com/holidaycampaign.

All donations are tax-deductible. Contributions of $25 or more will be acknowledged in The Times, unless a donor requests otherwise. Acknowledgment cannot be guaranteed for donations received after Dec. 18. For more information about the Holiday Campaign, call (800) LATIMES, Ext. 75771