For the second year in a row, Find Food Bank is hosting the CalFresh resource event at their warehouse, connecting residents from all over the valley with community based programs.

The month of May is dedicated to increasing public awareness for CalFresh and the resources they provide, not only throughout the county, but throughout the state.

“The goal with Find Food Bank is to give those accessible meals to our community, so being participants in CalFresh gives them that leverage to get accessible foods.” says Ana Montano, the Programs Supervisor for Find Food Bank.

With this annual partnership between Find Food Bank and CalFresh, residents have the  opportunity to apply in person for CalFresh food benefits, Medi-Cal, rental and utility assistance,  and so much more.

“So the resources beyond food is what we’re going to be providing with our community partners, like TODEC, providing their information, you know Latino Commissions providing for mental health, since it’s mental health awareness month as well for them. Angel View, that’s another resource that our families aren’t aware of what other services they provide.”

Along with those resources, attendees will receive free food and household necessities.

“Just want to make it a fun, available event for our community members and get all the resources that we have here in the Coachella Valley that a lot of our residents aren’t aware of.”  says Montano.

As far as signing up for CalFresh, representatives have made it quite simple for walk-in residents.

“So when they come in for our event, we will ask them for their name, address, date of birth, and how many people are in the home so they will be able to provide them with a card so they can go ahead and scan that for future events such as our mobile markets.”

Doing all of this with one main goal in mind.

“The goal for this is to bring in all our community members and be aware of what services we have, as well as presenting them the opportunity to get the supplemental meals that we have here and getting that information that a lot of our families aren’t aware of that’s out there.” Montano says.