The Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity pledge class joined with Los Angeles Regional Foodbank last weekend for a food drive at Cal State Long Beach, where students can help fight hunger by donating cans of food to various locations on campus.
Members of the drive included Rex Rodriguez, Mitchell Kunert, Chaim Fried and Hamad Alghatam.
Rodriguez, a member of AEP’s pledge class, said this is the first pledge class for Alpha Epsilon Pi on this campus.
“We want to be known as a fraternity that gives back to the community,” Rodriguez said.
Additionally, the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank has launched a free iPhone application that allows users to make cash donations from their phone or iPod. The app also allows users to easily search locations of the nearest local food pantries by zip code.
“Local pantries are struggling to meet the growing demand for food assistance and this new tool will make it easy for those who want to help to do so at the click of a button,” said Michael Flood, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.
Students can donate cans of food in different locations on campus such as the Fine Arts buildings, Social Sciences and Public Affairs, Parkside Commons, Housing and Residential Life Office and in front of the Walter Pyramid. The fraternity pledge class also plans to volunteer their time at a local foodbank over the next week.
A February 2010 report showed that Foodbank assisted 983,400 Los Angeles County residents with food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. That totals to nearly one in 10 residents.
SPINX Inc., a web design and development services provider, created the Pantry Locator App for Foodbank pro bono, in an effort to encourage donations and help social workers and community organizations assist residents in finding local agencies where they can receive food assistance.
“We also see it being used by civic-minded groups and individuals who are looking for places to volunteer their time to help locally in their community,” said Darren Hoffman, communications director for Foodbank.
Foodbank continues to look for new ways to increase the amount of food it’s receiving to keep up with the growing demand and hopes the app technology helps.
The app software is free and available on iTunes.com.
The success of the app has yet to be determined since the application has only been out for three weeks.
The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, a nonprofit organization, is one of the largest food banks in the United States and supplies a enough food for 750,000 meals a week throughout Los Angeles County.
“We hope this app raises awareness about the issue of domestic hunger,” Hoffman said. “We encourage people to download and use the app to help those facing hunger by supporting the Foodbank in its mission.”
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