Community Action Partnership of Orange County

This food bank is a popular place for large group to volunteer. Typical shift is 2 hours in an assembly line to fold boxes, fill them up with canned goods/​non perishables, and taped them up. It does get hot here, so be prepared to have a good workout; however, you take your own break and can switch positions within the assembly line if you need a change of task. Facility is neatly organized with clean bathroom and water stations.
See various groups and people collaborating to give something back to the community. Collectively, our group packed up 1800 boxes in 2 hours!
TIP:
1. Wear closed toed shoe and something comfortable to move around.
2. Call ahead for large group or arrange for a toy/​food drive if the spots are filled out.

This place is so right for so many reasons-​giving back to the community!
They use to be located on Knott Ave, near the 22 Fwy. They are now in a facility located on Monarch Ave. This place is huge!
I first learned about this place, 10 years ago when my daughter use to volunteer during her high school days. Many Saturday’s we spent along with other volunteers packing food boxes for seniors. It was a bit challenging at times, but so rewarding to see the end results.
This building houses my other community services other then the food bank. You can get assistance with utilities bills and weatherizing your property, provided you met the criteria.
Last year, my office held a food drive during the holidays. Hoping we can adopt several miles this year.

I used to volunteer at this place (but it was in a different location) during high school. Volunteered again today for the first time in forever with my younger sister. It feels good to be back and helping out the community! the other volunteers are superb and friendly. The most unbelievable thing was that the warehouse supervisor, Andre, remembering me.

Definitely feels good to help the community out! I love how this place is very organized as well! I’ve been here a couple of times to help box food and the guy always does a great job in explaining what this cause is for. He explains the stations and it is just an enjoyable experience to help out the community! There are people from kids, to teenagers, to adults. There is really something for everyone to do. There are lots of groups that sign up ahead to volunteer as well but I think if you have a few people, you can just come. I taped the boxes together the last time I was here and the previous time, I put in 2 juice bottles. Make sure you wear closed toed shoes as well! I even saw a 2 – 3 year old kid put cereal in the boxes! There is really a job for everyone no matter what age you are! The job is about 2 hours long so make sure you eat something before you come because all that hard work will definitely build up your appetite. We boxed 1,500 boxes! You feel really good afterwards and that is the best feeling in the world! Thanks OC food bank for being so awesome!
NOTE:
–For big groups, call ahead and RSVP
–wear closed toed shoes
–Have to put foods in a specific place or else it won’t fit in the box

I dropped off canned goods that my non-​profit collected and everyone was so friendly and helpful! Good people doing great things is recipe for a better world.

My grandpa and I come here on a monthly basis to pick up his food boxes (provided by the Community Action Partnership to low income seniors).
Parking is ample and I like that they have a nice lil picnic table out front the office for anyone to use.
Picking up the boxes is quick and simple, and we never have to wait. The staff is not too friendly but there are plenty of chairs for those like my grandpa to sit and wait on while they check you into the system. I’m not sure if the people that hand out the boxes are staff/​volunteers but they are usually pretty nice and are quick to get you on your way.
Something new we saw today was a booth set up to inform community members of the high sugar content in a lot of the beverages we drink, along with a pamphlet with recipes to show how how to spice up your water, and a pitcher of cucumber mint ice water to drink from. My grandpa who is not very adventurous tried it and was amused.
Thank you Community Action Partnership!

Volunteered here on a Saturday with my fellow Alumni. I’ll rate this 5 stars because I did a fine ass job volunteering.

Me an my husband volunteers here, and the people are funny that we work with here. we also meet new people everyday, and whats great about it is that children are helping here too.
Its free food for mother’s who are expecting and has children under 5 years old, and not receiving WIC…
Free for Senior Citizens
Free for qualified people with low income.
There are certain requirements too for people to be eligible.
We have seen nice people, yet we have also seen rude people who are getting food.
We don’t get paid when we are here, but we love to help!

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community… Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own — Cesar Chavez
In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it — Marianne Williamson
Part I of Sidney Writes About Doing Good
Here are some OC statistics for that may be surprising:
*30.4% of Orange County Households are unable to meet their basic needs, 90.9% of these households are working families.
*44% of Orange County seniors do not have enough income to meet their basic needs.
*8 out of 10 Latinos and 7 out of 10 Asian seniors are struggling to meet their basic needs.
*38% of Orange County seniors, or 118,000, have too high of an income to qualify for many public programs, but too little to meet their basic needs.
For over 47 years the Community Action Partnership of Orange County has worked to enhance the quality of life in Orange County by eliminating and preventing the causes and effects of poverty. They run a variety of programs including:
Orange County Food Bank
Energy and Enviromental Services
Community Partners Program
Anaheim Independencia Family Resource Center
El Modena Family Resource Center
Commodity Supplemental Food Program
Food Stamp Outreach
Asset Building — Earned Income Tax Credits
Nutritional and Physical Activity Programs
Community Builders Initiative
My son and I spent an afternoon with a parent group helping to prepare food boxes for Seniors living at sacrificial income level for the OC Food Bank. This means that they are at an income level where they will either pay rent and skimp on food or buy food and not pay rent. They cannot pay both.
The group I was with packed 900+ boxes, this box of food in our household maybe would last 2 – 3 days. It is not that large. The boxes we helped to prepare were filled with a five day supply of basic food items. However, the Seniors receiving these boxes generally have to figure out how to feed themselves for the remaining 26 days. Oftentimes, they make this food box last several weeks.
I have posted pictures on what could be accomplished by any decent working group in a couple of hours. Of course if you cannot provide time, donations and cash support also help. Living in the OC Bubble, it is very important for me to teach my son to give back and it is a quality everyone should have if they are fortunate enough to do so.
Even in a most affluent county, the need is great. We spend so much time eating and writing about food, it is staggering when you think about the number of people who view our culinary lifestyle as a luxury they would never be able to afford. I will definitely take my son back as many times as we are able to.

Helping People. Changing Lives.
If you want to get involved in your community, need a little bit of assistance, or just need someone to talk to to get you to the resources you need… call us! :)
Our programs include the Orange County Food Bank, Community Partnerships and Services and Weatherization. Call now for more info!
714−897−6670!