FIND Food Bank partners with local date farmer to help serve the community

FIND Food Bank is the desert’s regional food bank. It’s the largest food rescue organization in the Coachella Valley.

As the valley’s largest food distributor, it makes sense for them to partner with the local agriculture community who are the largest producers of food in the valley.

News Channel 3’s Caitlin Thropay learned more about the importance of this partnership when it comes to making sure no one goes hungry in our desert.

“Every local farmer that has product that is consumable should be visiting FIND, talking to FIND, seeing what they do,” local date farmer, Mark Tadros told News Channel 3.

Tadros is president of Aziz Farms in Thermal, California.

“When I first went to FIND Food Bank I was amazed by how efficient they are,” he said. “There efficiencies in their distribution center are phenomenal. I even learned some things for my own business,” Tadros added.

Tadros is also the co-founder of the Date Harvest Festival which is happening the weekend of November 9th in Coachella at Rancho Las Flores Park and Event Venue. This event is one way the agriculture industry is helping out FIND Food Bank because with every ticket sold to the Date Harvest Festival, five meals will be donated to FIND.

“For the Date Harvest Festival to want to give back to FIND Food Bank and to help others that are in need of food is something that is commendable and at the same time, it’s the right thing to do,” Steven Hernandez, Mayor of Coachella told News Channel 3.

The relationship between FIND Food Bank and the local agriculture industry is such a crucial partnership for what they bring to the table.

“We are talking about food that is being harvested right here in our backyard that could go onto someone’s plates that need it right here in our backyard as well,” Hernandez said.

FIND Food Bank CEO, Debbie Espinosa sees every day how this partnership makes a difference in the Coachella Valley.

“It’s not just about supporting people with food, it’s about supporting communities, being able to rise and elevate together as a whole,” Espinosa said.

“We are so thankful for the agricultural community. The great thing about the Date Harvest Festival is it really is a good example of how nonprofits and for-profit organizations can come together to drive sustainable ways of supporting the communities and partnership with each other for years to come,” she added.

It’s a partnership that truly benefit each other.

“It’s important that a community as big as ours has something here in the community, especially in relation to agriculture, we are a very large producer of agricultural products here in the Coachella Valley and an organization that helps distribute those products is a phenomenal organization,” Tadros said.

The Date Harvest Festival is one example that displays this partnership.

“A lot of times people think the only thing the food bank needs help with are donating money and volunteering but what they don’t realize is that we do both of those, and we also find ways to be able to do wonderful community events that showcase the work of the food bank as well as the businesses being collaborative partners with us to ensure that no one goes hungry,” she said.

If you are interested in partnering with FIND Food Bank give them a call at (760) 775-3663.

For tickets to the Date Harvest Festival click here.

KESQ