Fresno Madera Farm Credit and CoBank donated $30,000 to the Central California Food Bank during Friday's live event at The Market. The event aimed to spread the word about the 11th Annual Feeding Families Fund Drive. Photo by Ben Hensley

The Central California Food Bank (CCFB) continues its 11th annual 50% match Feeding Families Fund Drive, generating much-needed revenue to assist those struggling with hunger in the Central Valley as well as celebrating its partners and community members who share their donations with those in need.

The drive, which continues through the end of September, received some welcome publicity on Friday, with KMJ Radio and CCFB partnering at The Market in Northwest Fresno to generate additional community involvement, hoping to reach their goal of $570,000 combined donations from the community and organizations partnering with the food bank in this donation.

In the decade since its inception the drive has raised $3.8M. This year, with a goal of $570,000, the organization hopes to see its total funds raised reach over $4.3M.

“After this drive, they will have helped provide over 25 million meals to families in need,” said CCFB Director of Development Chanel Ruiz-Mendez.

In 2013, when CCFB co-CEO, then acting as the food bank’s Director of Development, Kym Dildine met GAR Bennett owners Greg and Karen Musson at an organization gala, the duo noticed the impact their dollar could make on the community.

Dildine and the Mussons partnered, with Dildine showing the duo the inner workings of Central Valley farm laborers’ day-to-day operations, emphasizing that, while many of these hard-working employees were providing the Valley and world with food, many of them were having trouble putting food on the table in their own households.

The first year of the partnership, the Mussons committed to donate $150K out of their own personal pockets if the Food Bank could raise matching donations.

“Our donors and our community, they’re so special. They want to give, but everyone wants bang for their buck,” Ruiz-Mendez said. “So being able to give a dollar and turn it into $1.50; people are coming out.”

CCFB thanked its member partners KMJ, GAR Bennett, Fresno Madera Farm Credit and CoBank, as well as donating members of the community for their support.

“This is really kicking off our greatest season of need for the Holidays,” Ruiz-Mendez said. “We had a need in the summertime because more mouths needed to be fed at home, but when you go back to school, there are a lot more expenses that families have. Hunger doesn’t end.”

Ruiz-Mendez said that the community fund drives are largely replacing traditional food drives for several reasons, primarily due to the flexibility of monetary donations.

“Since the pandemic we have steered away from food drives,” Ruiz-Mendez said. “At the time it was because of a safety issue, but we have just found that we have so much more bang for our buck when we get a dollar, because one dollar provides up to four meals.”

In an effort to spread the idea of donating funds over food, the Food Bank creates QR codes and encourages people to raise money to donate as opposed to donating physical food items.

“We even had organizations that would pay $10 to wear jeans – because some companies can’t wear jeans on Fridays,” Ruiz-Mendez said. “They raised a ton and then they came and brought it over.”

Food donations are still accepted, but CCFB member partners now coordinate with participating communities to specifically distribute the donated goods to communities designated by the donating party. Donors interested in participating in physical food donations are asked to contact the CCFB prior to the donation to have the donated goods picked up and distributed.