As Food Insecurity Grows, Pasadena Community Foundation Steps Up With Emergency Funds

The Pasadena Community Foundation announced Thursday it is helping address what is called “unprecedented local need during the holidays” with emergency grants for four nonprofits totaling $110,000.

Four local nonprofit organizations will receive the funds to assist with food pantries and other social services.

Friends in Deed, National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON), Pasadena Altadena Coalition of Transformative Leaders and Union Station Homeless Services say they are receiving fewer community donations this year, and what they do receive is not stretching as far as it once did.

The PCF grants come at the right time to help hard-pressed local families during the holidays.

“Well, obviously it is a relief. We feel a sense of relief getting this funding because the need in terms of food security has grown precisely because of inflation,” said NDLON Executive Director Pablo Alvarado.

“We can see it in the food bank that we have established at the job center. A couple of months ago, it was about 750 families that were coming. Now, we are over 850 families that come to get food from the food bank. They’re all low wage working families that are going to have a very hard time enjoying the holidays knowing that they can’t bring enough food to their tables.”

At nonprofit Friends In Deed, Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater said his organization was “thrilled to learn that PCF is awarding us a surprise, unsolicited grant of $20,000.”

“This grant is extremely important to us as the number of clients coming to our food pantry has increased substantially in the last several months,” Grater said. “We are now averaging over 500 households a week. In order to continue to provide healthy food, substantial fresh fruits and vegetables, and enough meat or protein to those in need, we need more resources and this grant will be a huge boost in our ability to reach these goals.”

“The Foundation is so supportive of Friends In Deed and we are very grateful. Thank you!”

Pasadena-area residents are enduring a 40-year high in inflation, and the resulting twin crises of food and housing insecurity has led to dramatic increases in families requesting food assistance from local nonprofit organizations, the Foundation said.

“We’ve learned that the combined effect of still record-levels of hunger, a decline in Federal food support, and rising cost of food is creating a crisis for food banks and social service agencies,” Jeannine Bogaard, PCF’s program director. “We’re grateful that PCF was able to leverage donor support and end-of-year reserves to step in with critical funding to help feed our neighbors.”

In a statement, PCF cited details of each nonprofit being gifted and the amount each is receiving: 

• Friends in Deed Friends food pantry serves over 500 families per week, with an 18% increase in total number of client visits in 2022 compared to 2021. Friends in Deed will receive $20,000 in emergency funding.

• NDLON (National Day Laborers Organizing Network) NDLON’s Mano a Mano food pantry serves 250 families per week. In December 2022 alone, 41 new families have requested assistance. NDLON will receive $20,000 in emergency funding.

• PACTL (Pasadena Altadena Coalition of Transformative Leaders) PACTL serves upwards of 150 families per week, and calls for support have increased 50% since January 2022. The organization reports that 56 of its client families are in dire need of help. PACTL will receive $20,000 in emergency funding.

• Union Station Homeless Services As the largest provider of social services for homeless and low-income individuals and families in the San Gabriel Valley, Union Station is on the front lines of the current crisis. PCF has granted the organization $50,000 to assist with food and housing initiatives. Union Station will receive $50,000 in emergency funding.

An October 2022 Consumer Price Index report highlights that grocery prices are 12% higher than in October 2021 – the largest 12-month increase in grocery prices in nearly 42 years. Food banks are reporting that they are spending three times more on purchasing food than they did in 2019.