Volunteers stock the Friends in Deed food pantry, which serves 600 households each week. Friends in Deed received a $50,000 PCF Food Security Grant this month.
Five Pasadena-area food distribution centers will have a little more to give this season with $125,000 in grant assistance from Pasadena Community Foundation: First AME Church, Friends in Deed, Foothill Unity Center, PACTL, and NDLON. PCF has disbursed $335,000 in Food Security Grants in the last two years. In 2022, in the face of unprecedented local need, PCF disbursed $110,000 in emergency funding to four food pantries. In 2023, PCF formalized its Food Security Grant Program and awarded $100,000.
In 2023, one in three LA County residents were food insecure according to a report by USC Dornsife Public Exchange. The need for food continues. Here in the Pasadena area, organizations report being increasingly challenged by the volume of clients they serve on a weekly basis, with several noting an increase in seniors and college-age clients. High food prices, the scarcity of affordable rental units, and the impossibility of purchasing a home is creating unsurmountable financial challenges for many residents in the Pasadena area.
The organizations also report new hurdles to stocking their shelves, including uncertainty about future federal funding, a perception among donors that Pasadena is not considered a ‘high need area,’ finding enough volunteers, and purchasing gas to transport food. Many have had to decrease high-need items like proteins and fresh produce in order to continue operating.
2024 Food Security Grant Recipients
First AME Church — First African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church hosts a food pantry twice a month. Each distribution serves 200 households at a cost of $2,000. They received a $25,000 PCF Food Security Grant.
Foothill Unity Center —Foothill Unity’s food distribution center is open three days a week and serves a total of 360 households each week at a cost of $5,000. They received a $25,000 PCF Food Security Grant.
Friends in Deed – The largest food distribution center in the Pasadena area, Friends in Deed serves 600 households three days each week at a cost of $8,000 per day. They received a $50,000 PCF Food Security Grant.
NDLON — NDLON’s Mano a Mano food pantry is open four days a month: three Fridays and one Saturday. It serves between 120-180 households a week at a cost of $1,500 per distribution. They received a $15,000 PCF Food Security Grant.
PACTL —Open every Monday, PACTL’s food pantry serves an average of 30 to 40 households at a cost of $600. PACTL received $10,000 from PCF. PACTL reports that “our clients either pay rent or pay for food, they cannot do both.” The organization received a $10,000 PCF Food Security Grant.
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