Del Monte Fresh Produce delivered a full truck load of fresh fruit to the City of Oxnard, helping those in need during the COVID-19 crisis.
“The Port couldn’t be more proud to see our customers stepping up to meet the needs of the community in these difficult times,” said Oxnard Harbor District Board President Jess Ramirez. “Del Monte has always invested their resources and energy to help the community, they are committed to our local families and have been since 1979.”
Last week, Del Monte named Art Bouvet to serve as the Community Support Leader, a new position which will serve to coordinate support for the local community. The position comes to fruition during the COVID-19 crisis, however it has been in the works for a long time, given their continual partnership with various non-profits and food banks in the community year-round.
Art Bouvet leads the Del Monte team in delivering fresh produce to the City of Oxnard to help families in need.
“Del Monte Fresh Produce will continue to serve our community and be a partner for our food banks now and the future,” said Del Monte Fresh Produce Community Support Leader and Warehouse Manager Art Bouvet.
Over the past year, Del Monte’s operation at the Port of Hueneme has donated 1,077,474 pounds of fresh produce (32,469 boxes) to Ventura County’s Food Share. This represents Del Monte’s highest donation to a single entity in the entire United States. Food Share has been a great partner with Del Monte Fresh Produce as they work to meet the needs of Ventura County’s residents and place any excess donations into the State of California’s Food Bank Network. This partnership helps Del Monte meet their goal of not wasting a single case of produce.
Volunteers of the Southwinds Neighborhood Council partner with Food Share and the Port to distribute food to those in need.
The Port is assisting Del Monte with expanding their donations to include collaborations with the United Farmworker’s Union Foundation, Restore Ventura, Spirit of Santa Paula Homeless Outreach Project, Fillmore Kingdom Center, Oxnard Southwinds Neighborhood Council, and the Oxnard Housing Authority.
Carrot donations in Kern County
Grimmway Farms is donating fresh carrots to support Kern County residents and California food banks during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
Last Thursday, company president Jeff Huckaby delivered baby carrot snack packs to six hospitals and numerous clinics throughout Bakersfield. Grimmway’s donation will provide vitamin-rich carrots to aid healthcare workers fighting on the front lines at Memorial Hospital, Adventist Health, Bakersfield Heart Hospital, Kern Medical and Mercy Hospitals in downtown and southwest Bakersfield.
This week, the company committed to supporting the establishment of pop-up grocery stores on the Memorial, Mercy and Adventist Health hospital campuses. These temporary stores will provide healthcare staff with food and household items that they can access quickly and safely on site, including fresh produce donated by Grimmway and other local producers.
The company is also sending twice-weekly shipments of baby carrots and whole carrots to the Community Action Partnership of Kern Food Bank and is set to deliver truckloads of produce to Fresno, Oakland, Fairfield, Sacramento and San Francisco over the next week through the California Association of Food Banks’ (CAFB) Farm to Family program. Grimmway’s food bank donation supplies carrots that will feed thousands of families throughout California.
“Thank you Jeff Huckaby and Grimmway Farms for your immediate response to a plea to help California food banks meet the significant increase in demand,” said Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
“Grimmway is uniquely positioned to provide produce to families and frontline workers during this challenging time and we’re working with state and local organizations to ensure fresh food is available to those in need,” said Jeff Huckaby, President of Grimmway Farms. “We’re all working toward a common goal to keep our communities safe and we’re committed to seeing this through together.”
For more information:
Becky Haycox
The Port of Hueneme
Tel: +1 (805) 488-3677
Email: [email protected]
www.portofhueneme.org
Valorie Sill
Grimmway Farms
Tel: +1 (661) 845-5222
Email: [email protected]
www.grimmway.com
Kate Haefke
CAFB
Tel: +1 (510) 350-9907
Email: [email protected]
www.cafoodbanks.org