On Tuesday, February 21, 2023, Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino (FARSB) hosted their annual Curbing Hunger event, formally known as the Ladles of Love luncheon. This in-person lunch was for community partners, volunteers, board members, and donors. A special thanks to the fantastic sponsors Molina Healthcare, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Hodgdon Group, Cardenas Market Foundation, Wild Goose Coffee Roasters, and Norms Restaurant.
Carolyn Solar, FARSB CEO, made an empowering yet informative speech acknowledging our partners! “These partners do fantastic work and serve in direct community-facing roles, often with minimal resources. When our inventory becomes limited, you can probably guess that our partners are impacted, too,” stated Solar. It is estimated that 400,000 people, or 1 in 10 people, in the Inland Empire face food insecurities daily; half of those are children. “Food insecurity remains present due to barriers like unemployment, inflation, and the general cost of living in California,” stated Solar. By 2024, FARSB, in collaboration with our community partners, will feed more people, provide more nutritious food, and remove food barriers while preserving and expanding resources to improve infrastructure and capacity building.
Evelen Ramirez, FARSB Volunteer Services Supervisor, recognized our top volunteers for 2022 in specific categories. The Breakout Corporate Volunteer award went to Louis Vuitton, Chase Bank won the Top Corporate Volunteer award, and Mark and Cindy Jessen won the Top Individual Volunteer award! “Every day, I am amazed at our volunteers who show up – rain or shine, to help us with our mission of assisting those that face food insecurities every year,” stated Ramirez.
At the end of the ceremony, Angela Jugon, FARSB Development Director, thanked select high schools from Riverside Unified School District, including Arlington, Ramona, Riverside Poly, North, and Martin Luther King, for donating handmade ceramic bowls made by the art students to raise funds for our community, before the Development Team offered guests guided tours of the food bank.