November Coachella Valley Spotlight recipient: Food Now
November's Coachella Valley Spotlight Recipient is Food Now.
Food Now is a non-profit with the mission to improve the quality of life in the Coachella Valley by providing food assistance, community outreach, and support services. It has been serving the valley for more than 30 years.
With the $25,000 Coachella Valley Spotlight grant, Food Now plans to distribute more nutritious food to people in need. It will make sure that vulnerable and at-risk populations, like seniors and children, do not go hungry. Every week, the organization plans to distribute food assistance to approximately 450 families and households. In order to accommodate vulnerable populations, Food Now will make home deliveries for about 90 households weekly.
The pandemic put a heavy demand on food assistance programs like Food Now. Since the start of the outbreak, the organization said it has seen requests for food assistance increase dramatically. Food Now collaborated with the Desert Hot Springs Senior Center and Palm Springs Unified School District to help identify seniors and children who could not go out during the pandemic or lacked transportation.
Food Now said it distributed close to one million pounds of food in 2020. In that same year, Food Now was visited by 4,774 individuals at least once in search of hunger relief, including 1,176 children and 1,013 seniors.
Food Now offers a variety of services for people in need:
- Home deliveries
- Backpack feeding program
- Homeless needs program
- Periodic health screening
- Senior needs program
- Pet food program
With the Thanksgiving holiday around the corner, Food Now said it expects food assistance demand to increase. The holidays are usually a time to celebrate for many, but for others, the holidays can be a burden on the family budget and financial well-being.
In order to help as many people as possible in the community, Food Now is always looking for donations and volunteers.
