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Second Annual Million Meals Marathon Set For Nov. 22-23

Published on Friday, September 26, 2014 | 12:16 pm
 

In an effort to combat hunger in local communities, Pasadena City College will be holding its second annual Million Meals Marathon Food Drive on the campus Nov. 22 to 23.

From 11 a.m. on Saturday to 11 a.m. on Sunday, organizers and volunteers will be on campus collecting donations for non-perishable food items – for both humans and pets.

“What differentiates us from other food drives is that we are also addressing the need for people to feed their pets rather than surrender them to shelters because they can’t afford them,” said Dr. Barbara Freund, primary event organizer and dean of the PCC School of Allied Health. “We don’t want them to have to decide between feeding their children and neglecting their pets. The idea is to keep families and pets together.”

The items collected will be used to help replenish the food banks of both the Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. PCC has also partnered with 100.3 FM The Sound to coordinate the 24-hour drive.

“This event is instrumental in replenishing our food pantry to help people feed their pets in their moment of need,” said Milena Warns, special events coordinator for the Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA.

This year’s Million Meals Marathon Food Drive will feature live music, giveaways, and a raffle for larger donations. Freund said the goal is to collect more than 2,000 pounds of non-perishable food. That amount will be enough to stock both food banks for two to three months.

In lieu of a non-perishable food item, organizers will also be accepting monetary donations on-site or through the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank website (www.lafoodbank.org/virtual-food-drive/search-participants.aspx – search for Team Name: Million Meals).

According to Freund, one dollar donated equates to four meals. “If everyone would give up buying one cup of a specialty coffee or drink and donate that money instead, they would be able to give 20 meals.”

Last year’s inaugural event gathered more than 1,500 pounds of non-perishable food for the L.A. Food Bank and more than 900 pounds of dry pet food – in addition to 310 cans of wet food – for the Pasadena Humane Society.

“Last year we didn’t have a lot of lead time – only three weeks,” Freund said, “but the community still came out in droves to support us.”

The brainchild of Freund, the Million Meals Marathon stemmed from her participation in the annual Mayflower Marathon Food and Fund Drive in Virginia, where she previously worked.

“For 15 years I was always a donor at the Mayflower Marathon,” said Freund, who joined the PCC family five years ago and has pets of her own – two rescue Dobermans. “When I came here to PCC, there wasn’t a similar food drive in scale like the one I was accustomed to in Virginia. I just thought that PCC was such a community of caring faculty and students that this kind of event would resonate with them.

“When I also learned that people were giving up their pets just so they can afford to eat, it just seemed like a natural addition to have donations for animals,” she added.

The overall goal of the annual event, Freund said, is to one day to cumulatively hit one million donated meals. “Once we do that, we’d have to change the name to the Ten Million Meals Marathon,” she said.

The Food Drive will be held in parking Lot 1 at the campus (corner of Hill Ave. and Colorado Blvd.). For more information or to volunteer for the event, call (626) 585-3378 or (626) 585-3308.

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