FOOD PANTRY TO ADD SERVICE AT CASTAIC SITE MONTHLY DISTRIBUTION TO START.Byline: SHARON Sharon, city, United States Sharon (shâr`ən), city (1990 pop. 17,493), Mercer co., NW Pa., on the Shenango River, near the Ohio line; settled c.1800, inc. as a city 1920. COTAL COTAL Confederación de Los Organismos Turisticos Para America Latina (Spanish: Confederation of Latin American Tourism Organizations) Staff Writer CASTAIC -- The Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. Food Pantry will open a satellite distribution site to serve Castaic and Val Verde Val Verde may mean:
Food will be distributed from 10to 11:30a.m. the first Thursday of each month at the Castaic Sports Complex, 31230 Castaic Road, Castaic. "This is something we've been working on for some time because we know there are needy need·y adj. need·i·er, need·i·est 1. Being in need; impoverished. See Synonyms at poor. 2. Wanting or needing affection, attention, or reassurance, especially to an excessive degree. families in the outlying out·ly·ing adj. Relatively distant or remote from a center or middle: outlying regions. outlying Adjective far away from the main area Adj. 1. areas," said Belinda Crawford, the food pantry's executive director. "We have quite a few people from that area who come to Newhall, but we also know there are families up there who can't get to our Newhall facility." The pantry discovered the need in Castaic and Val Verde through word- of-mouth and by contacting the area schools and senior-citizen housing developments. "Our focus there is mainly on senior citizens, but we'll be distributing to families as well," Crawford said. "We knew we needed to do more senior outreach Outreach is an effort by an organization or group to connect its ideas or practices to the efforts of other organizations, groups, specific audiences or the general public. ." The food pantry serves nearly 1,000 different families per year from its Newhall location, but despite those numbers the organization is only reaching about 14percent of people who qualify for services in the Santa Clarita Valley, Crawford said. "We serve the entire valley, but because of cost-of-living factors, we tend to find more families in the outlying areas," Crawford said. "We are perceived as a very affluent community, but there are pockets of poverty." A distribution center opened in Acton at the beginning of 2006, and after the Castaic location is running smoothly, the pantry plans to open another satellite location in Canyon Country. Castaic or Val Verde residents who would like to see if they qualify for the program, or those interested in volunteering or making donations, can call the food pantry at (661) 255-9078. Information is available at the organization's Web site at www.scvfoodpantry.org. sharon.cotal(at)dailynews.com (661) 257-5256 |
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