Westside Food Bank

Westside Food Bank

Since the crawl began in 2008, the event has raised enough for a half a million meals. For every $5 raised, the Westside Food Bank turns that into 20 meals!

Westside Food Bank

Want to know more about the Westside Food Bank?
Watch this video
www.wsfb.org

Westside Food Bank’s mission is to end hunger in our communities by providing access to free, nutritious food through food acquisition and distribution, and by engaging the community and advocating for a strong food assistance network.

Westside Food Bank has been a reliable source of nutritious food in the Westside community for over 42 years. About 90% of our food is distributed through free grocery distributions at food pantries, with the remaining 10% provided through shelters, transitional housing, community kitchens, K-12 and college programs, veterans' programs, and our five mobile pantry sites in Culver City, Mar Vista, Santa Monica, and West LA. Nearly 70% of the food we distribute is fresh produce, protein, and dairy items. We serve close to 72,000 households in West LA County, which equates to 153,000 individuals.

Our food reaches families with children, unemployed, under-employed, low-way, and middle-wage workers, seniors on fixed incomes, women and their children living in domestic violence shelters, adults and transition-aged youth experiencing homelessness, people with mental health conditions, chronic illnesses, and other disabilities, college students, and veterans and their families.

New initiatives and expanded partnerships include:

  • The Bodega pantry at Santa Monica College, which is open to students in need five days a week.
  • Weekend backpack programs at all the elementary, middle, and high schools in the Santa Monica Malibu Unified and Culver City School Districts.
  • Our partner agency, St Joseph Center, has a food pantry serving more than double the number of households than pre-COVID.
  • As more veterans are housed in new permanent supportive housing facilities operated by Step Up and New Directions at the West LA VA, our no-cost groceries reach hundreds more veterans.
  • We are working with US Vets and the Veterans Collective on a plan to operate an indoor food pantry for vets at the veteran service center, which will be housed in Building 300, starting in 2026.