A grant supporting one of The Foodbank’s new strategic initiatives will increase the capacity of some of the organization’s partner agencies serving agricultural workers.
The Foodbank received a grant of $25,000 dollars to purchase refrigeration systems for five agencies whose primary clients are farm workers. These cooling units will allow the agencies that were identified by the Foodbank to properly store perishable produce that otherwise could not be stored.
“To be able to serve more produce to these families feels great. We can make a much larger impact not just in terms of providing food to our agencies but being able to enhance their capacity to distribute nutritious foods,” says Jacqueline Valencia, Director of Community Programs and Education for the Foodbank.
Dairy items such as milk, cheese, eggs and butter which would normally perish in a matter of hours can now survive weeks with these temperature-controlled units. The units range in size from 19 to 69 cubic feet, providing much-needed space to hold fresh produce such as cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots and avocados —items that will also last for weeks in the cooling units.
The refrigeration grant, sec
ured by Feeding America, a nationwide network of foodbanks, food pantries and meal programs, was provided by the California Milk Board. Milk is the number one most requested food item at Foodbanks and Food Pantries but often cannot be accepted because of the lack of cold storage equipment to store it and other dairy products. Cooler Management, the company that provided the refrigeration units works with Foodbanks to identify coolers that work best for each agency.
The other four agencies benefitting from the grant are the Buellton Senior Center, the SB County Housing Authority-Evans Park, Peoples Self Help Housing- Guadalupe Courts and the Santa Maria Salvation Army.
Maria Ayala is the Resident Services Specialist for Evans Park, a 142-unit low-income housing complex in Santa Maria. The agency serves 170 families each month. The new refrigerator is a first for them. Without a refrigeration unit, produce received in the past had to be distributed that same day, otherwise it would spoil, which meant families who were unable to be present during the distribution time, were only able to receive canned and dried foods. At full capacity, Ayala says the refrigerator will store enough produce to serve 40 to 60 more families per month and still have enough capacity to add a new weekly distribution. “I think it is the most rewarding part of the job to see that we are fulfilling our client’s needs which are access to healthy food, especially for people who are in low-income housing to have healthy, nutritious items,” Ayala says.
At the Buellton Senior Center, the new refrigerator provides eight times the capacity than the outgoing one which was struggling to be functional because of its age. “It was a small outdoor unit, it had broken shelves and was probably 20 years old,” says CEO, Pam Gnekow. The new refrigerator will provide room for 200 more pounds of produce. “We could not be happier about this,” Gnekow adds. “The vegetables stay colder and crisper. It just makes everyone feel so much better to be able to open up a refrigerator, like at a grocery store. It’s just more appealing for them and more welcoming.”
