LA Food Bank works with agencies to serve veterans across county

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- On Thursdays, Korean War Veteran Richard Smith has one thing on his mind: the food delivery from the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

For the last 13 years the war veteran has been receiving food from the food bank.

"They provide a level of support, which is fantastic," he said. "You eat here about two months and that means you've gone through the menu and you've heard every war story that's ever been told."

Smith lives at Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) Housing Corporation, a nonprofit that gives homeless and low-income people a place to live. It's one of the many organizations partnered with the L.A. Food Bank to help veterans and others in need.

According to Eli Lipmen, director of marketing and communications for the L.A. Food Bank, the organization distributes more than 1.2 million pounds of food each week throughout Los Angeles County to nonprofit agencies just like SRO Housing.

About 90 percent of the people served have a place to live.

"Which is something that a lot of people don't sort of understand as part of hunger in Los Angeles," said Lipmen. "That most of these people are living in permanent housing."

And almost 15 percent of them are veterans.

"We think it's so important that they've served our country that we make sure that these folks have a good meal on their table every single day," Lipmen said.

The food bank gets truck loads of food throughout the year, but if it weren't for partnerships with organizations like the SRO, it wouldn't be to get to some people who really need it.

Lipmen also added that September is Hunger Action Month.

"All the food banks, there's over 200 that are part of the collaboration, we're all working together to raise awareness about hunger here in America," he said.