Feed SoCal: Chatsworth family shares story

CHATSWORTH, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- We live in an abundant area, but there is hunger everywhere. Many families struggle to put food on the table. One out of every six people in L.A. County is hungry, and many are children.

ABC7 is working to change that. We've partnered with Vons, ESPN LA 710, Mathis Brothers, Ontario Auto Center, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey and Southern California regional food banks for the 3rd Annual Feed SoCal hunger initiative throughout Southern California.

The L.A. Regional Food Bank says its mission is to fight hunger in this community and give people hope. They put the following story together to show how a local family went from living a comfortable life to suddenly needing the food bank's help:

Bill and Nikki have been married for 23 years. Nikki was working at Cal State Northridge when she had all three of their kids. Bill had been a freelance writer for about 12 years, at that point.

"We had no reason to believe that we wouldn't be successful," Nikki said. "In 2007, the recession hit here earlier than it hit some other parts of the country, and then the writer strikes started and we saw everything change."

"I was starting to get these large projects pretty reliably, and then it went from that to zero, everything vanished," Bill said.

"First, you go through savings and retirement accounts and seeing who can help you in your family. During that time period, it was very stressful. I don't even remember how I got through some of those days," Nikki said. "My job at the university was to get students involved in volunteerism out in the community, so I knew about all these food banks in the area from the other side. So when I first started as a client, it was a shock and I thought of myself as a person that volunteers and donates to food banks not as somebody who is going to be using one. We were at Whole Foods, now we're at the food bank, and we need to figure out how to feed our kids."

"Without a food bank, we would have had a hard time, so I'm thankful for food banks," the couple's daughter Logan said.

"I remember when we first started going to the food bank, it was such a huge relief," Nikki said.

"I love carrots and apples and cucumbers and that kind of thing. When it comes in the basket, you're just like woo-hoo!," the couple's daughter Erin said.

"We're in recovery now. Bill is back to work, but it isn't at the same rate as he was being paid before," Nikki said.

"We're able to pay our bills mostly on time and were continuing to work through that. We got out and it's time to give back," Bill said.

"I would say to the people at the food pantry that if I could I would give them a present because they're so awesome and have a happy life to them," Logan said.

How You Can Help

1. - Go to your local Vons or Pavilions and purchase a pre-filled $5 bag; purchase other non-perishable food items; or take your own non-perishable food items, and leave them in the Feed SoCal box.

2. - Donate online to your food bank of choice:

• Los Angeles Regional Food Bank - https://www.lafoodbank.org
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County - http://vad.aidmatrix.org
• FOOD Share Ventura County - https://www.ghostcart.com
• Second Harvest Food Bank Inland Empire - http://www.secondharvest.us

3. - Come out to one of our four "Stuff-A-Truck" events and bring non-perishable food items, cash, check or credit card, and help Team Alysha or Team Garth "Stuff-A-Truck" for Feed SoCal.

4. - Bring your non-perishable food items and leave them in the Feed SoCal box at any performance of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey July 9 - August 3. Visit www.Ringling.com for a full list of venue locations and show times in Southern California.

And you can keep up with all things Feed SoCal by following us on Facebook and Twitter:

http://facebook.com/abc7community

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