It's never been easier to donate nonperishable food items to the Laguna Food Pantry. You can even do it in your bathrobe when you put out the trash receptacles on your regular trash pickup day! Now through Nov. 8, residents of Laguna Beach can contribute nonperishable food items to help neighbors in need by placing food donations curbside. A Waste Management team will gather all donations and take them directly to the Laguna Food Pantry, which provides groceries to low-income families in and around Laguna Beach. The Pantry also offers free breakfast and lunch food for the 50 nightly clients of the neighboring Alternative Sleeping Location (ASL). The ASL is managed by Friendship Shelter with support from the City of Laguna Beach. The food drive is in observance of National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week November 1-7.
Most-requested items include breakfast cereal, pasta, pasta sauce, canned tuna, peanut butter, and jelly. Residents may mark their donation as “food" on the donation box or paper bag (no banned plastic bags, please).
All donations are taken directly to the Laguna Food Pantry, located at 20652 Laguna Canyon Road, next to the ASL.
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“We are delighted to be selected by the City of Laguna Beach as the beneficiary of this major effort,” said Andy Siegenfeld, director of the Laguna Food Pantry. “Waste Management has always been good to us, but this fourth year in a row, they have stepped it up by expanding the food drive. It had been limited to a few specific neighborhoods, but with a citywide effort covering every resident who has trash pickup service, our volunteers are gearing up to take in as much as 25 tons of nonperishable food items that will feed hungry families.”
Elmer Heap, public sector manager for Waste Management of Orange County “Waste Management of Orange County is honored to support this very important cause and invites residents to take part,” noted, “We are pleased to join the City of Laguna Beach Housing and Human Services Committee to help meet the needs of the community by collecting needed food for those who use the Laguna Food Pantry and the Alternative Sleeping Location.”
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The Laguna Food Pantry, formerly the Laguna Resource Center, provides free, fresh, nutritious groceries to low-income households. Families are invited to shop in the Pantry’s friendly, retail-like setting once a week. Located at 20652 Laguna Canyon Road near the Dog Park, the Pantry is open from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. It is run entirely by volunteers. New volunteers are always welcome to inquire about helping to pick up, sort, and stock food items; call 949-497-7121 during morning operating hours.
For more information about the food drive, contact Waste Management representative Elmer Heap at eheap@wm.com. Learn more about the Laguna Food Pantry at www.lagunafoodpantry.org
