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The Pasadena City Council on Monday unanimously approved $646,250 to continue food programs during the pandemic.
The money will go the PUSD Grab and Go Program, food banks and pantries, NDLON, the Pasadena Senior Center, the YWCA, the Great Plates Program and Harvest Village Ministries Food Deliveries, which the city had not previously funded.
In total, thousands of meals were delivered to 8,423 people between May and July.
The funding will allow the school district to feed local residents up until the school year starts.
The district will receive $79,050 to continue the program for three weekends. The school district funds the program on weekdays.
“We don’t yet know what the Pasadena Unified School District is going to do for breakfast and lunch,” said Brenda Harvey Williams.
The department could come back to the City Council after the district releases its plans.
“We just are waiting to get more information from the school district.”
Besides the PUSD, the Pasadena Senior Center would receive $15,000 for continued support of the emergency food distribution program. The money will be used to provide for the distribution of 500 bags of groceries and will feed 1,300 older adults.
The San Gabriel Valley YWCA would receive $17,500 to feed 230 seniors.
The National Day Labor Organizing Network (NDLON) would receive $20,000 to continue the purchase of non-perishable food items to feed 300 families in their network for three months.
Seven food banks and pantries would get $98,700 for continued financial assistance. The food pantries are partner agencies with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank (LARFB). Due to the extremely high need for food, the LARFB is experiencing disruptions in donations from their regular food industry donors. This has resulted in a change in the type, quantity and quality of food available from LARFB.
According to a city staff report, “Previously partner agencies received meat and poultry free and could purchase low cost dry and canned goods. Now LARFB only provides prepackaged boxed food. As a result, our local pantries need to purchase additional food items to augment those received from LARFB.”
The money would feed 10,000 people for three months
The Harvest Village Ministries would receive $55,000. The local non-profit focuses on continual transformation of people, who in turn help to change their lives and the community in which they live.
The state’s Great Plates Delivered Meal Program has been extended beyond Aug. 9, and $361,000 would be used to continue program locally.
The City will continue to add participants and restaurants for the remainder of the program’s operational period.
Pasadena pays just under $64 per day per participant. With approximately 235 participants, the cost to operate the program totals just over $466,000 per month.
If the program continues more than 30 days the department will have to come back to the City Council for more money.
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