Food Drives To Provide Groceries To Hundreds Of Southland Residents Friday

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Hundreds of needy Southland families struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic are receiving groceries through several food drives Friday in Compton, Los Angeles and Anaheim.

The L.A. Regional Food Bank was holding a drive-thru food distribution from 9 a.m. to noon to serve an estimated 2,000 families at East Rancho Dominguez Park in the 15000 block of Atlantic Avenue.

Actor Danny Trejo was hosting a drive-thru food drive beginning at 1 p.m. outside the district office of L.A. City Councilman Herb Wesson, located at 1819 South Western Ave. in West Adams.

The drive will provide essential groceries to the first 350 cars. Vehicles must come through Manhattan Place.

A pop-up drive-thru food pantry will provide groceries to an estimated 800 families in need at Savanna High School in Anaheim between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. The food pantry is hosted by the Saddleback Church and three other churches.

"It's been incredible how much the need has escalated," Rana Muncy with Saddleback Church told CBSLA Friday. "We are actually giving out seven times more food and more locations and serving more families than we were before the crisis."

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All this comes on the heels of news Thursday that 36 million Americans have filed for unemployment since the pandemic began in mid-March, including 4.1 million in California alone. The state has seen a 22.3 percent decline in revenue since January, and the forecast estimates over $54 billion in debt by summer of 2021.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti reported last week that the city's unemployment rate was estimated at 24%, up from 4.7% in February. California Gov. Gavin Newsom estimated last week that the state's unemployment rate was at 18 percent.