LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Methodist Churches around Lake County that are partnering to end hunger locally raised the bar in their second year of collecting food donations.
Lake County CAN! launched in 2012 with a goal of addressing local food insecurity, including the fact that in the county – where about 18 percent of the 65,000 residents live in poverty – nearly half of the children are eligible for free or reduced meals at school.
In 2012 Lake County CAN! held a monthlong food drive, and followed up this year with a one-day canned food drive held last Friday on the second day of the Lake County Fair.
Voris Brumfield, pastor of Middletown Community United Methodist Church, said in Lake County CAN!'s inaugural year, 1,949 individuals donated 7,796 cans of food or other nonperishable items during the monthlong drive.
This year, in a much shorter period of time, those numbers were topped.
Pastor Shannon Kimbell-Auth of United Christian Parish in Lakeport, another Lake County CAN! organizer, said 2,210 people brought food to the Lake County Fair.
She said each of them brought at least four cans, but added that one man came with a pickup truck filled with food.
She said 300 cases of donated food were distributed to 10 food pantries, compared to seven food pantries that benefited in 2012.
Last Saturday, volunteers gathered at Mendo Mill in Lakeport to sort, pack and deliver the donated food.
Receiving food this year are food pantries at United Christian Parish and other Methodist Church food pantries around the county – Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Kelseyville, Lower Lake and Middletown – as well as One Stop, the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center and Galilee Lutheran, Kimbell-Auth said.
She said the next Lake County CAN! event is planned for this November, when volunteers will package meals for overseas, and ask for a limited and specific list of donations to address local needs.
If you want to be involved in the effort, local food pantries accept food donations year-round. Drop-off points include the following:
- Clearlake Community United Methodist Church, 14521 Pearl Ave.; telephone 707-994-2134.
- Clearlake Oaks Community United Methodist Church, 12487 The Plaza at Highway 20; telephone 707-998-9435.
- Kelseyville United Methodist Church, 3810 Main St.; telephone 707-279-4664.
- Lower Lake Community United Methodist Church, 16255 Second St.; telephone 707-994-2507.
- Middletown United Methodist Church, 15155 Armstrong Ave.; telephone 707-987-3379. Drop-off times, Sundays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Wednesdays and Fridays, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- United Christian Parish, 745 North Brush St., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-4788. Drop-off times, Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Upper Lake United Methodist Church, 604 Clover Valley Road; telephone 707-275-2459.
According to the Lake County CAN! Web site, with the exception of Upper Lake, all of the locations above also offer food pantries. Call them for more details about services.
For more information about local food pantries and the effort to end local hunger, visit www.lakecountycan.org .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.