Feed SoCal: 2015 goal to receive $3M pounds of food

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- For more than a decade, Lena Lair worked with her church and the Los Angeles Food Bank to feed those who would otherwise go hungry.

Lair said one woman has been coming to the Food Bank since she was pregnant with her son 12 years ago.

Similar stories of those in need are why the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank serves more than a quarter million people monthly.

"A lot of the people that we're seeing, they're just not able to make ends meet. They're working really hard or they're seniors and they're living on a fixed income and they're having to make decisions like paying utilities, paying for medicine or purchasing food," said Susan Acker, communications associate with the Food Bank.

Around the holidays, donations pour into the Food Bank, but hunger is a year-round problem, and during the summer months the supply dwindles.

Children who rely on school lunches do not get that food during the summer.

According to the Food Bank, one in six people in Los Angeles County struggle with hunger and one-quarter of them are children.

That is why for the fourth year in a row ABC7 is teaming up with Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions, ESPN L.A. 710, Mathis Brothers and Southern California Regional Food Banks to feed those in need in Southern California.

Last year, we were able to collect more than 2 million pounds of food providing 1.5 million meals. This year, our goal is to collect 3 million pounds of food.