With rising prices at the gas pump and in the grocery store, Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank is seeing an uptick in client visits and new clients. In the Conejo Valley, it may appear that there is so much food available, but there are about 15,000 people in our area in need of food. Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank has been connecting those who can give with those in need for more than 50 years.
Manna accepts over 6,000lbs of donated food from our community each month. We also work with local retailers to recover food from their stores. Manna accepts about 8,000lbs of fresh food from grocery stores monthly. Manna loves to work with Food Forward and local gardeners who provide fresh picked fruits and vegetables.
You may not realize food banks are leading the way in food recovery. Our collective efforts in diverting healthy food from our retail partners helps prevent food waste. And, as we receive this food, we have to consider how to dispose of the cardboard it is donated in and food that is no longer usable. We are grateful to have a partnership with Athens Services. As we move into our new building, Athens is providing us with information and strategies on how to best recycle the cardboard we receive and teaching us how to utilize our new organic green waste bins more fully. In our new facility, we will be growing our food distribution and be better equipped to make sustainable choices.
To learn more about Manna’s new building, click here.
To learn how Athens is enabling us to best dispose of green waste, click here.
