BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Food insecurity is a growing issue across the country and Kern County fairgoers had the opportunity to lend a helping hand by donating cans of food for entry on Wednesday. In total, more than 23,000 pounds of food were collected.
The Kern County Fair and Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) hosted their annual Feed the Need event. People were able to come together and give five cans of food in exchange for admission to the fair.
CAPK operates a food bank that helps feed more than 40,000 people every month. Their mission is also to bring awareness to this growing issue. CEO Jeremy Tobias said the nonprofit has collected over 40,000 pounds of food in the past.
“I think our highest was 47,000 pounds of food,” Tobias said. “So this year we’re shooting for 50,000 pounds of food which is a big help to our food bank because we distribute to the entire county of Kern, metro Bakersfield, the entire county. It’s a huge county and we distribute food to every corner of the Kern County area.”
Fairgoers said donating was just common sense.
“Helping a little bit means helping a lot and bringing all your cans to help the kids honestly its a big help and why not do it right?” fairgoer Yesenia Orozco said.
Tobias says this annual event brings in support from the community for which that the nonprofit is always grateful.
“This is an easy way to touch people that are in need,” Tobias said. “People are always looking for ways to help those in need and this is an easy way to do it and it makes sense. You donate food and it goes into their hands to feed the hungry so it’s a really easy way to be involved and you get into the fair for free so it’s a fun event for everybody.”
