Foodbank in the News

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County kicked off its 2023 Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown on Monday. The Showdown is a six-week charitable competition running from Oct. 30 to Dec. 11 and is intended to coincide with the peak of end-of-year and holiday-based giving. A total of eight local companies have agreed to compete: Deckers, CIO Solutions, Master Clean USA, Yardi, Amazon, Impact.com, Raytheon, and five locations of Planet Fitness. The Foodbank’s goal is to raise $50,000 by the end of the contest.

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The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County hosted its annual Santa Maria Empty Bowls event at the Santa Maria Fairpark Wednesday. The event aims to nourish the community with a handmade bowl and homemade soup made by local chefs. Attendees are able to not only choose their bowl but also take it home.

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The 22nd annual Santa Maria Empty Bowls event took place Wednesday at the Santa Maria Fairpark hosted by the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. Volunteers from local restaurants and organizations served a diverse selection of soups to hundreds of community members to raise awareness and funds for hunger relief programs.

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Anthony Rodriguez of the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is an award-winning expert on disaster recovery. Here are some of his insights for disaster recovery. (Page 20A)

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The 22nd annual Santa Maria Empty Bowls, known as a culinary experience and a gesture of solidarity with those in the community who face food insecurity, will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at the Santa Maria Fairpark. Hosted by the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, the popular event aims to raise awareness and funds for hunger relief programs. Anna Boren, event coordinator, said the program model started in the 90s at a high school in Michigan when “an art class made handmade ceramic bowls and served soup to fundraise for their local foodbank.” “That kind of event program caught on and was modeled throughout the entire world, actually, and that is something that the Foodbank adopted about 26 years ago,” Boren said. The inaugural event was held in Santa Barbara and the Foodbank added fundraisers in Santa Maria and Lompoc.

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Agriculture-rich Santa Barbara County faces a hunger crisis, even when you the amount of produce harvested here. It’s in the top one percent of agriculture producing counties in America. This is Hunger Action Day and the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County says there are serious issues.
Erik Talkin, Foodbank of Santa Barbara County CEO says, “even here we have 200,000 people, half of them who are children, who are food insecure and who don’t have enough healthy food for every day of the month.”

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The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is asking the public to join the fight to raise awareness about food insecurity during Hunger Action Month. On Sept. 12, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is set to approve a resolution recognizing September as Hunger Action Month. Food should not be an impossible choice but it is for thousands of people in Santa Barbara County, according to the Foodbank. This year, the Foodbank has served almost 11 million pounds of food to over 230,000 unduplicated children, adults and seniors across the county.

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The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is asking the public to join the fight to raise awareness about food insecurity during Hunger Action Month. On Sept. 12, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is set to approve a resolution recognizing September as Hunger Action Month. Food should not be an impossible choice but it is for thousands of people in Santa Barbara County, according to the Foodbank. This year, the Foodbank has served almost 11 million pounds of food to over 230,000 unduplicated children, adults and seniors across the county. “Hunger Action Month is an opportunity for the community and those who work at the Foodbank, to reflect on the issue of hunger, rededicate ourselves to removing it from the lives of neighbors throughout Santa Barbara County, and get into action to make it happen. Together, this is a problem we can solve,” said Foodbank CEO, Erik Talkin.

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