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Local family offers $20,000 donation-matching gift to food bank 

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‘Hope for the Holidays’ food drive will feed thousands of families

For a surprisingly large number of San Luis Obispo County residents, November does not mark the beginning of a long season of feasts and over-indulgence. An estimated 44,000 people in need countywide—40 percent of which are young children of working families living in or close to the poverty level, and 12-15 percent of which are seniors—are not looking forward to the season’s bounty of pies, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy; instead, they are simply hoping to find enough food to meet their daily minimum nutritional needs.

But, this year, their hopes are on the way to coming true thanks to a recent $20,000 donation-matching gift to the Food Bank Coalition of SLO County. The donation, provided by philanthropists and Paso Robles residents Mr. & Mrs. B. Wayne Hughes, Jr., kicks off the Food Bank’s annual KCOY-TV Hope for the Holidays Food Drive on Nov. 1, which aims to raise $80,000 this year for those in the county considered ‘food-insecure.’

Food Bank Chief Executive Officer Carl Hansen says, “This is the second year in a row that the Hughes family has made the largest donation-matching gift in the organization’s history of $20,000. With it, we are well on our way to meeting our $80,000 fundraising goal and providing much-needed sustenance to the thousands of hungry residents in our community.”

Hansen says the $20,000 dollar-for-dollar single donation will help provide $200,000 worth of food for San Luis Obispo County residents from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Additionally, the money raised by the Hope for the Holidays campaign will be used to support the expansion of the Food Bank’s 2014 Summer Kids’ Lunch Program, as well as provide general support for all Food Bank programs.

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The Food Bank’s 2013 Summer Kids’ Lunch Program, he says, served 25,000 nutritious meals and snacks to 1,000 children at 18 different lunch sites countywide last year. “But there are 16,000 children in the area that need that lunch program assistance,” Hansen exclaims, “and as you can see, there is a huge gap between how much of the population is in need and how many are being served. If we meet our fundraising goals this year, we intend on doubling or tripling the lunch program’s reach in 2014.”

Food Bank Chief Operations Officer Wendy Lewis says the Hope for the Holidays $20,000 donation-matching gift will help them reach those numbers. “The Hughes’ donation and those who match it offer funding that will carry through to the months when donations are leaner. We hope that, because of the matching factor, the recent gift will encourage others in the community to give and multiply their impact on the lives of locals in need.”

Lewis says that those aided by the Food Bank include a wide variety of individuals: some have recently lost their jobs and need help keeping food on the table for their kids until they can find the next opportunity; some are senior citizens getting by on small monthly allowances that fall short of providing adequate nutrition; with 50% of the Food Bank’s recipients having at least one working family member at home, but still need assistance meeting basic nutritional needs.

Aside from expanding the Summer Kids’ Lunch Program, she explains that donations to the Hope for the Holidays drive allow the Food Bank to increase its distribution points and hours to reach underserved areas in the county, and to improve its services and goods. For instance, Lewis says that the Food Bank strives to provide the community with the food items everyone should have in their cupboard—which includes fresh foods and not just canned items.

“Thanks to monetary donations like the donation-matching gift, we are able to buy more produce to meet our mission of providing more nutrition and working towards a healthier future for our community.” In 2013, 50% of the 6 million pounds of food distributed was fresh produce; whereas five years before, just 15% was fresh fruit and vegetables.

This year’s donation-matcher, B. Wayne Hughes, Jr., says that when he and his wife, Wendy, learned of the numbers of hungry children, adults and seniors in the county last year, they felt immediately compelled to support the Food Bank Coalition and have since donated a matching gift to the program for 2 consecutive years. “This program cuts to the heart of the community by helping those most in need of our help—our kids and our elders,” Hughes says. “We admire organization like the Food Bank for all that they do to help those without the means to provide for their families.”

Thanks to donations like the Hughes’, the Food Bank will provide nearly 6 million pounds of food, or 3.6 million meals, to those in need in 2013. Hansen says, “Private contributions like this donation-matching grant constitute approximately 60 percent of the Food Bank’s revenue. We are all very grateful for the generosity and support.”

For more information about the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County, call (805) 238-4664. To learn about upcoming fundraisers or to stay updated, please visit their Facebook page “SLO Food Bank” or go to www.slofoodbank.org. To make a donation, visit the website, or mail a check to: P.O. Box 2070, Paso Robles, CA, 93447.

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About the author: Publisher Scott Brennan

Scott Brennan is the publisher of this newspaper and founder of Access Publishing. Follow him on Twitter, LinkedIn, or follow his blog.