Food Bank Programs

Emergency Food Assistance Program Operating through forty-seven USDA commodity sites and 105 pantries the CAPK Food Bank provides emergency food assistance throughout Kern County to food insecure residents. CSFP, or Senior Food Program The CAPK Senior Food Program is a USDA-funded program designed to provide low-income seniors with a 30-lb box of healthy food items such as milk, cereal, protein, fruits, and vegetables each month. This program helps vulnerable seniors from having to choose between food and other basic needs. Farmer’s Markets Our Farmer’s Markets distribute food in Arvin, Lamont, and at the Kern County Fairgrounds, and in partnership with area churches and charities. In addition, for several years The Wonderful Company has been providing additional financial support to the communities of Delano and Wasco at our existing Farmer’s Market locations. The Wonderful Company will be expanding their financial support to cover the Shafter area in the coming months. CAPK Farmer’s Markets held monthly distributions between March and September 2019. They served 7,623 families and gave out 550,991 pounds of fresh produce. These Farmer’s Markets are stocked thanks to donations from local agricultural producers. Through their generous donations, we can provide families in need with fresh juices, potatoes, citrus, leafy greens, broccoli, onions, and so much more of Kern County’s harvest. Snack Attack The Food Bank provides healthy foods to after-school programs. With this program we are able to serve over 2,500 kids on a monthly basis at Corporation for Better Housing, Friendship House, Garden Pathways, and Stay Focused. BackPack Buddies Program CAPK’s BackPack Buddies (BPB) program works to alleviate hunger by providing children who do not have enough to eat at home with wholesome, ready-to-eat foods before weekends and holiday breaks during the school year. The program helps counteract health and behavior effects of child hunger such as weakened immunity, low height for age, slower cognitive development, lack of concentration, aggression, poor academic performance, and more. Food items from the CAPK Food Bank (either purchased or donated canned or packaged proteins, fruits and vegetables, grains, and shelf-stable dairy products) are provided discreetly in drawstring reusable backpacks to prescreened low-income children who fit the profile for chronically hungry or who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals and live in food insecure households: i.e., households where consistent access to adequate food is limited due to a lack of finances or resources.

Emergency Programs Food2Door In partnership with the County of Kern Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the Food2Door program was established to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission in seniors ages 65 and older who are the most vulnerable to serious illness from the disease. Each senior enrolled in the program receives a 70-pound food box filled with cereal, juice, canned fruits and vegetables, canned meats, beans, rice, peanut butter and pasta, along with cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) that will last all month. Boxes are supplemented with fresh produce and dairy products from the state-funded Senior Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program. The Food2Door program’s aim is to cut down trips to the grocery store for this population. Volunteers package hundreds of boxes each day and six drivers make deliveries throughout Kern County, bringing food and hope to resident’s doors. Drought Emergency Food Assistance Program (DEFAP) From 2014 through 2017, the CAPK Food Bank distributed pre-packaged boxes of food to help families with loss of income due to unemployment or reduced work schedules caused by the California drought. These boxes were for families throughout Kern and were distributed in Arvin, Bakersfield, Buttonwillow, Delano, Lamont, Taft, and Wasco.

Serving our neighbors with fresh, nutritious food is our highest priority. It’s an honor to be the first place our community members call when they have a need. The CAPK Food Bank works in conjunction with our 2-1-1 call center to connect our neighbors to our local partner sites so they can find healthy resources in their time of need. We know the difference a food box can make to a family—sometimes it is the difference between keeping utilities on or keeping a roof over their heads. We want our community to know we’re here to help. -Carmen Segovia, Director of Health and Nutrition Services