FIND Food Bank helps combat food insecurity in the Coachella Valley for Hunger Action Month

Every September, food banks across the nation raise awareness about Hunger Action Month.

Here in the Coachella Valley, FIND Food Bank partners with local organizations, distributing free meals to 125,000 people monthly.

“When you just look at the numbers, and the amount of population we have here and the need for food, everybody has a collective effort to volunteer, to give, to donate, to help meet that food insecurity need," said Linda Evans, chief strategy officer for Desert Care Network.

FIND Food Bank is part of 200 food banks across the nation that come together to make sure local families are getting a helping hand.

“We do this year-round, at our convention center, we do a weekly food distribution, we have been doing this for a number of years, we also support the LGTBQ center of the desert, which has a food bank and we do this every week as well," said Jeffrey Bernstein, Mayor of Palm Springs.

Not to mention, food insecurity rates in the desert is over 16%, having this resource in the Coachella Valley is essential.

“We have one out of six people that are affected by food insecurity, they wonder where their next meal is coming from, FIND Food Bank distributes over 20 million of food annually every year to ensure that people have healthy nutritious meals, to not only help them just survive but to also thrive," said Debbie Espinosa, president and CEO of FIND.

In order to raise awareness, city landmarks are lighting up "orange" for Hunger Action Day, the color signifying hunger relief. “All of our cities are lighting up in orange, our corporations are lighting up in orange in order to make sure that our community, that FIND, that the people know that they will not be left behind when it comes to knowing where their next meal is coming from," said Espinosa.

There are a number of ways, participants can help donate/volunteer, you can find more information here.