Westside Food Bank

The Westside Food Bank provides food to social service agencies in Santa Monica, Venice, Culver City, West Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Inglewood, and the LAX area.

Its food often enables low-income people to stay in their homes, reducing the problem of homelessness, because it saves them from having to make the agonizing choice between paying for rent or food when they can't afford both. By receiving food from the Food Bank, its 70 membership-agencies are able to devote more of their own resources to other ways of helping clients achieve self-respect and economic independence.

The Food Bank acquires as much food as possible through donations, but it must still purchase approximately half of its food from wholesale merchants at the best volume prices it can obtain. It also receives produce from a statewide "Farm to Family" distribution program. Its "Extra Helpings Westside Program," which recovers food that would otherwise be thrown away from bakeries, restaurants, caterers and food suppliers, provides about one-third of the food the organization distributes. 

The Food Bank also collects and distributes packages of diapers, which are are not covered by food stamps and are of urgent need to low income families.

Whom does the Food Bank serve?

• Children in pre-school, after-school and day care programs whose health is threatened by hunger
• The unemployed or working poor who need help accessing healthy food
• Seniors on fixed income and the frail elderly
• Women and children living in domestic violence shelters
• Homeless individuals who are without basic necessities
• The mentally ill, the disabled, and others who need assistance
• Veterans in need

Selected Awards

California Nonprofit of the Year, 2017