By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor
As part of Westside Food Bank’s 28th annual Phantom Dinner, donations made through Tuesday, April 30, will receive a dollar-for-dollar match.
“For over two decades, our community of supporters, volunteers and friends have gathered in spirit rather than in person to support our vital hunger relief work,” read the WSFB website. “Our Phantom Dinner tradition allows us to apply the cost of holding a gala dinner to our mission to provide nutritious food for our neighbors in need.”
A “ticket menu” included items like a Table Sponsor for $600 (for the “table your colleagues won’t have to sit at”) or $300 for a dress or suit “that you won’t have to buy.”
Founded in 1981, Westside Food Bank was created to serve as a more efficient food security network. It is now the primary bulk wholesale food supplier for over 60 nonprofit service agencies in West Los Angeles County.
WSFB announced this year, a pool of anonymous donors pledged to match every dollar donated through the end of April, up to $100,000. According to the WSFB website, $25 provides 100 meals in LA County.
“The extra assistance programs that helped vulnerable households get through the pandemic have ended, and now Los Angeles County is facing the worst hunger crisis of our lifetime with 30% of residents experiencing food insecurity,” Westside Food Bank President and CEO Genevieve Riutort said in a statement.
Westside Food Bank reported food insecurity rates are up another 13% “since the height of the pandemic in 2021.”
“People are turning to emergency food sources like Westside Food Bank’s network of partner food pantries to survive,” Ruitort concluded.
For more information or to donate to Westside Food Bank’s Phantom Dinner, visit wsfb.org/pd2024.
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