Grant Will Increase Food Pantry Space

The West Valley Food Pantry will use an $18,300 donation from the San Fernando Valley chapter of the National Charity League to increase its storage space for incoming food donations, league officials announced this week.

After years of using a small closet in the kitchen of Prince of Peace Episcopal Church in Woodland Hills to store its food, the pantry will finally be able to put a 240-square-foot storage unit on the site.

“This was a necessity,� pantry coordinator Luke Fishburn said. “We operate out of the kitchen, and they give us a little closet. We obviously can’t hold all our food in that little closet.�

Most of the funds, he added, will be used to buy food for the 2,300 people--nearly half of them children--who go to the pantry for help each month. Pantry volunteers also plan to buy 300 chickens to be distributed during the holidays.

This year’s donation was larger than the National Charity League chapter had given previously because the pantry isn’t getting as much USDA surplus foods due to federal cutbacks, according to chapter spokeswoman Valerie Brill.

“We’re very appreciative of this. We get a small amount of [Federal Emergency Management Agency] funds, but otherwise we rely on private donations of money and food,� Fishburn said.

And in addition to the funding the chapter has provided since 1988, National Charity League members volunteer by sorting and distributing food to families in the West Valley. The league is organized to foster mother and daughter relationships around philanthropic services, cultural activities and social events.

The pantry, run by a coalition of eight religious congregations in the area, was founded in 1985 to provide emergency food to the needy.

Food is distributed from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at 5700 Rudnick Ave.

It serves families residing in the area south of the Simi Valley Freeway, north of Mulholland Drive, east of Reseda Boulevard and west of the Ventura County line. Recipients must demonstrate need and show proof of residency to receive a three-day supply of food once in 30 days.