Community Hub 2 Feeds Families

00:00 AM - November 19, 2020

On November 5, Community Hub 2 hosted a food and diaper distribution event at the Cameron Park Library that benefitted approximately 200 families in need. This effort was made possible by the Hub 2 team, Placer Food Bank, Feed El Dorado, and volunteers from El Dorado County Office of Education (EDCOE), Placerville Kiwanis and the community. Feeding America lists El Dorado County with 23,220 Food insecure individuals or 12.8% of the population. Current resources in the region have only assisted an average of 3,000 individuals, leaving 20,220 unassisted each month.

Gorge Lupercio, Placer Food Bank’s Director of Operations noted, “Placer Food Bank (PFB) is committed to nourishing El Dorado, Nevada, and Placer Counties. Through the Feed Our Future Program, PFB is honored to sponsor the Free Farmers Market at the Hub 2 Cameron Park Library location. In collaboration with EDCOE; El Dorado County Health and Human Services, Older Adult Services; and the Cameron Park Library, PFB has seen the number of clients continually increase from 85 in June to 185 in November. That means that over 570 people had increased access to nutritious food through this combined effort of First5 Hub 2 and PFB. Over the past year, PFB has increased food distributions throughout Placer and El Dorado Counties from three sites to nine: five sites in Placer County and four sites in El Dorado County. Through education, public awareness and actionable steps for community members, current and future donors, corporate and business partners, we can work together to uplift our community, feed our hungry, and expand our services to include more families and individuals in need. Hunger isn’t going anywhere, and neither is Placer Food Bank.”

Paul Zappettini, Placerville Kiwanis member, volunteers at several food distribution events and explained, “Placerville Kiwanis has partnered with the Placer Food Bank to distribute produce, dairy and dry food items to food-insecure families in El Dorado County. I am proud that Placerville Kiwanis volunteers are now working at the Community Hub 2 distributions that help families in the Cameron Park area.”

Jesus Cordova, EDCOE Family Specialist, helps to produce this and several similar events around the county. He expressed, “Our food distribution project would not be possible without the support and generosity of our volunteers. Our volunteers are community members that truly believe in public service and serving the most vulnerable families in our community.”

One of the crucial partners in this effort is a new organization called Feed El Dorado. In 2019 Feed El Dorado was formed to assist families with after hour food distributions in the Georgetown area. In the midst of the pandemic, Feed El Dorado teamed up with Placer Food Bank to establish drive distributions in Georgetown, Placerville, Pollock Pines, and Cameron Park. The drive thru distributions have been a huge success, and will be the new “normal”. Feed El Dorado's vision is to serve those, with the intent, to alleviate hunger to all in El Dorado County.

Community Hubs are a partnership between First 5 El Dorado, EDC Library, EDC Early Care and Education Planning Council, EDC Child Abuse Prevention Council, EDC Health and Human Services Agency’s Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Program and Mental Health Services Act. Kathleen Guerrero, First 5 El Dorado Executive Director, explained, “Many of our families have lost their jobs, are isolated at home and are struggling to make ends meet. Our Community Hub Teams have partnered with the Placer Food Bank, our Libraries and the Community Foundation to expand drive through food distributions to Cameron Park. In October, these events benefitted approximately 2,000 individuals. In addition to food, community members can get diapers, wipes and learning materials. Hub Team members are offering their services virtually through social media to increase access to story times, support groups and other opportunities to connect.”

For more information about Community Hubs, visit https://www.first5eldorado.com/community-hubs

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