By Jose Ivan Cazares, Contributing Writer
Los Angeles — The Los Angeles Football Club partnered with Farmer John Tuesday morning to make a mass donation of packaged meat to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
LAFC and Farmer John donated 713,000 servings of protein at the food bank’s headquarters south of downtown LA. As part of the announcement, LAFC broadcaster Max Bretos served meals to volunteers and employees to thank them for the risks they have taken on as essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During the pandemic everyone’s staying at home because it’s safer, but we forget that life goes on, and it’s workers like these that are on the front lines,” Bretos said. “All I’m doing is handing out boxes. It’s a very small thing, but everything helps out.”
The coronavirus has led to mass unemployment around the nation, with California’s unemployment rate peaking at almost 15% in June. The state has only regained 31% of the 2.6 million non-farm jobs that were lost directly in March and April at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The economic effects have led to an increase in food insecurity, with more families than ever relying on organizations like the LA Food Bank for regular meals. The organization is currently serving food to more than 900,000 people each month, three times more than it did before the pandemic started.
Bretos’ Tuesday visit is part of a 12-stop food truck tour around the greater Los Angeles area. Farmer John representatives will serve lunch to essential workers at food banks across the region as part of this initiative.
Bretos urged members of the public to help food-insecure families by supporting organizations like the LA Food Bank. “One of the main things people could is volunteer at their local food banks, but not everyone can do that, so donations obviously help.”
