PANTRY GETS $25,000 GRANT.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

NEWHALL - First 5 LA donated $25,000 to the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry, which serves some 3,200 families in the area.

The contribution was part of $1.2 million granted to 55 community agencies and family child care providers in Los Angeles County and the only one offered to a local organization.

First 5 LA provides funding to a wide range of services that provide critical needs in the county. It was created by voter initiative in 1998 and uses tobacco tax revenue to fund early childhood development programs for children prenatal through age 5 and their families.

More than half the food pantry's clients are children; the group's motto is that ``No child in the Santa Clarita Valley should go to bed hungry.''

The money is earmarked for the hiring and training of bilingual staff, the purchase of children's books and other services for children.

``First 5 LA believes that it is important to support those working for children and families in Los Angeles County,'' First 5 LA executive director Evelyn Martinez said.

``We developed these grants to empower local organizations to decide on the types of programs and services that will best suit the needs of their communities.''

First 5 LA's Community-Developed Initiatives Small Grants are one-time only grants up to $25,000. The amount awarded each group is contingent on its grant proposal.