Volunteer Center South Bay Harbor Long Beach

The Volunteer Center is proud to announce the expansion of our Long Beach office with the addition of a new pantry that will serve children and families through our Food For Kids program.

Twenty-three percent of Long Beach residents live at or below the US Federal Poverty Guidelines, well above the national average of 15%. These figures become even more disheartening when we look at school-age children; 33% of the local population of kids 5-17 are living in poverty. We know hunger accompanies extreme poverty. We live in the midst of one of the highest food insecurity zones in California.

While under-resourced students receive school-provided meals for breakfast and lunch during the week, many of their families cannot adequately feed them on the weekends. The students then arrive at school on Monday without the proper nourishment, which can negatively affect their school performance and self-esteem.

That's where Food For Kids comes in— each week,  we provide bags of non-perishable food and health-related inserts to partner schools and organizations in Long Beach through our food pantry. Volunteers assemble and deliver bags of food filled with items to assist in making breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the weekend.

Your support will help The Volunteer Center provide bags of food to Six new schools in Long Beach. 

A school counselor shared the following story with us recently: 

"One of our parents (her daughter is in kindergarten) unfortunately got diagnosed with cancer. She went through surgery, but being the only parent and supporting three kids, she was having difficulty after surgery because she wasn't working. The weekly bags of food helped her whole family through her recovery!"

Together, we envision a community where children and youth have the nutrition and tools they need to learn, serve, and thrive.