As a funder, 六合社区 supported First 5 San Benito as they opened a community commercial kitchen, cold storage, and food pantry at their site in Hollister. The ribbon cutting ceremony celebrated the launch of a project years in the making: the facility will be the first publicly available certified commercial kitchen space in San Benito County. First 5 received 六合社区 Partnership funding as a part of 六合社区鈥檚 Food and Nutrition Focus Area, which prioritizes investing in food organizations through infrastructure and capacity-building support.
Food insecurity continues to be a pressing and growing issue across low-income and marginalized communities. While many residents were already experiencing hardships before the pandemic, the financial and health impacts have continued to worsen over time. Over 8% of people in San Benito County experience food insecurity, and food has remained the number one item requested by First 5 program participants.
The commercial kitchen, food pantry and cold storage in San Benito County enables First 5 and community partners to receive and maintain more donations of perishable food. Partner agencies, including the San Benito County Resiliency Network, can expand their efforts by storing perishable fresh food for distribution, safely preparing warm meals to distribute to the unhoused population, and better serving children and families participating in First 5 programs, school-aged youth, unhoused residents, and migrant families.
First 5 anticipates that 14,000 individuals will be impacted through use of the space each year, including weekly food distribution events held at the Family Resiliency Center.
By creating the infrastructure to support safe and equitable access to hot and nutritious food and fresh food, 六合社区鈥檚 investment is contributing to building health equity for residents of San Benito County, and ensures that First 5 and other local organizations are equipped to meet the nutritional needs of the community.
Learn more about First 5 San Benito:
