Huge Donation of Produce Given to Local Foodbank

When it comes to drought relief, the Central Coast has a friend. Farmers and businesses in the Central Valley donated thousands of pounds of fresh fruit to the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. It’s a part of an effort to help California foodbanks in regions hit hardest by the dry weather.

Foodbank of Santa Barbara County has seen tough times this year like many other foodbanks in the state. But today a surprise came knocking on the door. It came in the form of 20 pallets of various kinds of fruit. In all, that’s about 40,000 pounds of food.

This is part of an event sponsored by a grassroots effort of businesses, farmers, and organizations that provide support to drought-stricken communities.

The foodbank was thankful for the donation.

“We don’t want to give them any food, we want to give them nutritious food. And fruits and vegetables is a key part of that,” said Judith Monte, Development Manager with the foodbank.

Santa Maria is one of 15 communities in the state to receive a truckload of produce. The event hopes to distribute over 350 pallets of food to foodbanks across the state in the first week of September.