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S. Mark Taper Foundation Awards Grant to FIND Food Bank

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Contact: Development and Community Relations Manager
760.501.1637 | ksullivan@findfoodbank.org

 

S. Mark Taper Foundation Awards Grant to FIND Food Bank to Provide Equitable Food Distribution to Communities Disproportionally Affected by Hunger

 

The S. Mark Taper Foundation Grant Supports FIND’s Vastly Expanded Food Services Since COVID-19

INDIO (February 2022) — FIND Food Bank, the Desert’s Regional Food Bank, is pleased to announce a $100,000 grant award from the S. Mark Taper Foundation to support FIND’s unparalleled recent growth since COVID-19 and FIND’s continued commitment to meet the enormous ongoing need in our community.

Currently, one in five desert residents may experience hunger. FIND maintains over 150 free food distribution sites serving diverse populations, including migrant farmworkers, fixed-income seniors, and working people living paycheck to paycheck. Providing healthy and nutritious food strengthens the health and economic vitality of our most vulnerable communities. When people facing hunger can depend on a nourishing meal, it decreases financial and emotional stress and helps individuals continue to make rent and mortgage payments, gas and utility bills, and obtain medical care.

“Our communities are still experiencing the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic – especially working families and children,” says Debbie Espinosa, President & CEO of FIND Food Bank. “We are so grateful for the support of the S. Mark Taper Foundation to maintain our organization’s immensely  expanded operations, to continue to feed those in need, and to ensure an equitable recovery for all who call the desert home.”

As the largest hunger-relief organization in the desert region, FIND Food Bank serves over 5,000 square miles, and distributes food to most of the region’s food pantries, soup kitchens, nonprofit, religious, and community organizations. FIND also operates “contact-free,” drive-through style, Mobile Markets strategically placed to provide healthy food in lower-income areas or “food deserts”, lacking adequate grocery stores and/or transportation.

About FIND Food Bank

Founded in 1983, FIND Food Bank is the Desert’s Regional Food Bank serving over 5,000 square miles, including eastern Riverside and southern San Bernardino Counties, from the Hi-Desert and Joshua Tree across the Coachella Valley to Anza, down to the Salton Sea and the border of CA and AZ. FIND is the largest hunger-relief and food rescue organization in the region. They are the Feeding America food bank for the Coachella Valley desert region and recognized as the USDA distributor for eastern Riverside County and the County of Riverside, and the State of CA as the regional Disaster Response food bank. FIND’s mission is to end hunger today, tomorrow, and for a lifetime. To end hunger for Today, FIND currently feeds an average of 150,000 individuals, families, children, seniors, and veterans each month. Their 150 distribution sites include over 80 community agency partnerships (soup kitchens, religious organizations, local nonprofits) and 42 Community Mobile Markets that serve food deserts and low-income areas. FIND’s two distribution centers strategically located in the Coachella Valley and Hi-Desert help ensure equitable food distribution for all. To end hunger for Tomorrow, FIND offers outreach services that connect residents to benefits programs that improve financial security. FIND works to end hunger for a Lifetime by identifying the root causes of hunger to break cycles of food insecurity to achieve self-sufficiency.

 About S. Mark Taper Foundation

The S. Mark Taper Foundation, founded in 1989, is a private family foundation dedicated to enhancing the quality of people’s lives by supporting nonprofit organizations and their work in our communities. The S. Mark Taper Foundation is committed to grantmaking that aligns with the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In order to overcome the systemic disenfranchisement of people on the basis of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability, we join our philanthropic partners in a continuing examination of privilege and a commitment to advancing inclusion and opportunities for all people of Southern California.

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