LA HABRA : Food Boxes Given to 300 at New Center

About 300 people picked up 50-pound boxes of food Thursday at La Habra United Methodist Church, the first of 13 new food distribution sites to open this month.

Before Thursday, recipients had to travel to Costa Mesa to pick up food under a 2-year-old, federally funded program administered by the Orange County Community Development Council.

“Now, we hope that we’ll be able to serve more people because they won’t have that far to travel,” said Casey McFall, a spokeswoman for the council, which serves low-income pregnant women, new mothers and children under age 6. “The program is providing adequate nutritious foods to people who otherwise might not be able to provide such food for their family.”

The food boxes included cornmeal, dry milk, cheese, meat, peanut butter, rice, cereal, fruit juices, baby formula and canned vegetables.

“Sometimes we hit bad times and the money runs low,” said Preston Andres, 26, who came to the church with his wife, Christy, and their daughters Shalisa and Rachel.

“I got laid off from my last job and it’s been kind of hard to find a decent job,” he said. “We’re on welfare and we’re struggling right now. Hopefully, I’ll find a job and we won’t have to pick up this food any more. But for now, it’s very helpful.”

Each recipient received about $75 worth of groceries.

“We’re always tight for money,” said Rosio Granados, 25, who with her husband and two young children picked up two boxes of food. “This program is wonderful. My kids eat all the food. It’s a great help because we’re poor and we really need it.”

The La Habra center will distribute food every third Thursday of the month to eligible recipients who live in La Habra, Brea, Placentia, Yorba Linda or Fullerton.

Twelve other distribution sites will open at churches and community centers this month in Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Westminster, San Clemente, Anaheim, Stanton, Orange and Santa Ana.

The new sites will make picking up the food convenient for more needy women and children throughout the county, McFall said. “We expect the number of people that come will at least double next month.”

A La Habra widow, Juana Rios, who has two babies, said that sometimes she would go without food because she didn’t have a ride to the distribution center in Costa Mesa.

“Now I can walk over,” she said. “It’s better for me to come here. I’m so thankful because it’s a great help for my family’s nutrition.”