Porterville non-profits to distribute major food donation

Two large shipments of non-perishable canned food items from Deseret Industries, the humanitarian-aid arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-saints in Salt Lake City, will help those in need in Porterville.

The first shipment arrived on September 15. A 52-foot Deseret Industries semi-truck delivered 24 pallets of assorted foods and supply items. On Monday, September 20 from 8 a.m. to noon, the food will be picked up by various Porterville Non-profit groups. Volunteers will be loading the food boxes into vehicles from the warehouse where they’re currently stored.

The food is temporarily stored at the PSW warehouse at 1924 S. Newcomb. Non-profit groups will help distribute the food to those in need over the next two weeks.the timing is ideal because the warehouse has been vacant due to the pandemic, shared Don Sowers, PSW executive director.

The distribution of food will be organized by the Porterville Area Coordinating Council. It will go to more than 20 small local non-profit groups in the Porterville area. PACC manager Ryan Land and governing board member Fred Beltran are working directly with the non-profits to receive the food. Any organizations that would like to receive a food donation can contact the PACC office, (559) 793-0213.

Local members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supported the large donation coming to the Porterville community by making LDS Humanitarian Aid aware of the local needs. The LDS Humanitarian Aid donation of surplus food is generally to support emergency response efforts for worldwide disasters, but on occasion, a surplus of resources become available to communities like Porterville. A second shipment of food is scheduled to arrive in Porterville on October 13t.

Porterville Non-profits benefitting from the food deliveries include: Comision Honorifica Inc.; Trinity Lutheran Church Food Pantry; Wellness Center; St. Anne’s Food Pantry / Knights of the Columbus; Parenting Network; Porterville Pregnancy Resource Center; Seventh-day Adventist Church; Hispanic Apostolic Church; Valley Adult Day Services; Poplar Church.

Porterville JC Junction; Autumn Oaks Senior Living ; Strathmore Food Pantry; Porterville Gleaners; Central Valley Environment; Springville Pantry; Terra Bella Food Bank; First Baptist Church.