Leadership representatives from local community organizations and the Orangevale Fair Oaks Food Bank work together at the Fall Community Food Drive in October 2022.

ORANGEVALE, CA (MPG) - Hoping to meet growing food insecurity, the Orangevale Fair Oaks Food Bank and more than 50 community partners will sponsor the fifth annual Fall Community Food Drive on Oct. 12.

Residents are encouraged to drive through and drop off food and cash donations from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Oct. 12 at Divine Savior Church on Greenback Lane, 9079 Greenback Lane, Orangevale. 

Drive organizers Jose Zambrano, food bank community outreach coordinator, and Marcus Arnold, weekly foodbank volunteer, have set a record-breaking goal of 50,000 pounds of food. 

Arnold said he sees an increase in new large families, while donation trucks come back with less than before. 

“These are hard times,” Arnold said. “These community drives, they’ve got to grow, because the needs have grown so much.”

Food bank records confirm Arnold’s observations.  Since 2020, when the number of individuals served increased 55 percent, the need has grown about 20 percent each year.

As need increases, the donations provided by groups such as Feeding America have remained consistent and food provided by Sacramento Food Bank fluctuates every month, said Teresa Anderson, food bank office manager.

“We depend on the community's generosity to help us fill that gap,” Anderson said.

Support for this anniversary drive has expanded several-fold. A single church’s effort in 2020 grew each year to 11, then 25 organizations. Now more than 50 community groups, including churches, schools, businesses, clubs and civic service organizations, are involved.

“New partners have just come and sought us out this year. It’s magnetic,” Arnold said. “They’ve caught wind of it. They want to be a part of it. We’re in five years and it’s becoming tradition.”

Various groups are collecting food. The Orangevale Grange Hall hosts donation barrels. Dairy Queen puts fliers in its to-go bags.  Orangevale Water Company and Fair Oaks Water District are including information in their September bills. Lawyers vs. Hunger will match up to $15,000 in monetary donations. More than 100 volunteers will help unload and sort donations.

Volunteers sort food donations at the Fall Community Food Drive in October 2022 hosted at Divine Savior Church for Orangevale Fair Oaks Food Bank. Courtesy photo

“This is our chance to give back, to collaborate,” Arnold said. “It’s about a four-letter word, love, in our community.”

Individuals and families residing in zip codes 95662, 95628, 95630, 95610 and 95621 can receive a full load of groceries twice monthly, once before the 15th and once before the end of the month. Distributions run most weekdays.

“We want our community to know we work to be good stewards with the food they give,” Anderson said. “We want to be a hand up, not a hand out, as we plan our grocery program.”

Recipients often share that same feeling of stewardship. 

“Often, a family who once received from the food bank will turn right around and give back to the food bank,” Arnold said. 

Schools who receive for their students also host drives that give back. Individuals bringing donations to last spring’s drive said they had to come because when they needed food, the food bank had been there for them.

“Our appeal to everyone reading this really is to pull up, drop off and donate the morning of Oct. 12,” Arnold said. 

In addition to donations, volunteers are still needed from 8 to 10 a.m. and from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Volunteers can sign up at www.ovfofb.org/volunteer.

For more information, email Andrea Scollay, Orangevale Fair Oaks Food Bank director, at [email protected].

Patsy McGavock is a media relations volunteer for JustServe.org.