Food Insecurity Program | White Memorial
Story 20

John Schroer:

Here in Los Angeles, there are 1.4 million people that are food insecure on a daily basis. We are able to give approximately a thousand bags of food out every day. But we're just scratching the surface. There's a huge need here. A desperate need.

In Boyle Heights and surrounding communities in East Los Angeles, there are a high number of individuals that don't even make the $50,000 threshold for families of four or more. They are in desperate need of food. This is providing the basic nutrition for families that wouldn't be getting it.

Elizabeth Rodriguez:

What we're doing now doesn't have anything to do with someone's insurance, someone's ability to pay, where they live, socioeconomic status. This is just something that is accessible to anyone. There are so many people coming together to do this project that we can just see the impact.

Speaker 3:

I always picture this could be my family. So I picture it as my grandma, my mom. It's really rewarding to be able to provide this food to them. I don't know. To me, it just fills my heart.

Eric Macias:

Everyone in the community is just so thankful. It's just a really humbling experience for people to come, and they feel valued.

Speaker 5:

I’m not working. I’m on disability and don’t have work. This food is for me and for my family. It's good. Thank you very much.

Speaker 6:

You are welcome.

John Schroer:

A community can only be healthy if every member of the community has the opportunity to be healthy. For me, that's why I joined Adventist Health is because I want it to be part of a movement. I wanted to be part of a solution to communities' needs.

Eric Macias:

Just because we run out of food here doesn't mean that the need in the community has been met. We will have people coming up here all day asking, "Hey, can I still get something?" even if we've been out for hours. So we would always love to get any sort of food donations, and we obviously need people to come help to make it all possible, too.

Marilyn Figueroa:

This brings a lot of joy to everybody. It's just very helpful to have this program, because this brings ease in the community.

Speaker 8:

Everybody is doing it, I guess, the same way I'm doing it, from your heart. I think everybody's feeling the same thing. Otherwise, they wouldn't be here.

Elizabeth Rodriguez:

I really feel like I'm part of a bigger, greater thing here in the community and actually making an impact when I can see people receiving the bags that we've all worked so hard to put together.