FOOD Share Receives $300K From Amgen Foundation

Online, February 3, 2012 (Newswire.com) - FOOD Share, Ventura County's only regional food bank, has received a $300,000 grant from the Amgen Foundation. The funding, to be distributed over a 2-year period, will be used to support food assistance programs throughout Ventura County. Due to the economic downturn, FOOD Share is currently serving nearly 74,000 low-income residents in Ventura County each month, which is a 33% increase from two years ago.

"With hunger on the rise in our community, the Amgen Foundation is proud to continue our support of FOOD Share to help ensure that those who ask for assistance can receive it," said Jean Lim Terra, president, Amgen Foundation. "We are grateful for the work that FOOD Share continues to do to help address hunger in Ventura County and hope that others will join us in supporting their work."

"Both Amgen and the Amgen Foundation have long been generous FOOD Share partners," said Bonnie Weigel, FOOD Share CEO. "Their consistent support of our efforts reflects their ongoing commitment to making life better for the people who live and work in Ventura County."

FOOD Share also recently formed a Corporate All-Star team comprised of many of Ventura County's top business and community leaders. By nurturing the leadership skills of committee members and connecting individuals who share a common passion for community service with one another, FOOD Share hopes to foster greater social responsibility and yield exponentially greater results in the fight against hunger in Ventura County.

About FOOD Share
FOOD Share, Ventura County's only regional food bank, distributes millions of pounds of food each year to those in need. FOOD Share provides food year-round to more than 74,500 Ventura County children, adults, seniors and families each month via more than 150 Ventura County pantry partner agencies and multiple programs.

FOOD Share's many programs include the Senior Brown Bag supplemental nutrition program that provides home delivered meals and supplemental groceries to nearly 2,000 low income seniors through the Oxnard and Ventura Senior Nutrition Programs and, the Kids' Farmers' Markets, offering nutrition education, healthy recipe preparation, taste testing and a farmers' market free fresh produce "shopping experience" to children in Ventura County afterschool programs.

In 2011, FOOD Share partnered with Ventura County's Human Services Agency to provide expanded CalFresh enrollment assistance. CalFresh, formerly called food stamps, is the largest federal nutrition assistance program that provides supplemental nutrition assistance to eligible Ventura County residents.

For more information: call (805) 983-7100 or go to http://www.foodshare.com