Latter-day Saints donate food truckloads to Irvine, California, area charities

For months, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has continued to donate truckloads of food to food banks across the United States. The Church has committed to donating 250 truckloads in 2026, in honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Each truckload carries approximately 40,000 pounds of food, enough to feed 1,400 people for a week. The donations began in November 2025 and are set to continue throughout 2026.

On Saturday, Feb. 21, members of the Church joined a local group of the Knights of Columbus from Laguna Niguel, California, to help unload a delivery in Irvine, California. Youth volunteers who learned about the event through JustServe.org also took part. JustServe is a free website and app where community organizations list their service needs and volunteers can find opportunities nearby.

Because the donation was so large, volunteers sorted and organized boxes of shelf-stable food for 11 different food banks, churches and missions in the area. Volunteers helped move boxes onto pallets for delivery, a practical act of hospitality toward people who are hungry (Matthew 25:35). Jonas Takagi, who drove from San Diego with his brother to help, said, “It feels good to be able to help others who are in need.”

Sheila Teevans, chief of staff at South County Outreach, one of the nonprofit organizations that received part of the donation, said the organization relies on JustServe volunteers each week. “We have been so lucky to connect with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the past few years,” Teevans said. “We love what they do.”

In St. George, Utah, Carol Hollowell, CEO and founder of Switchpoint, which includes a food pantry, said the organization had not seen a larger influx of families in need since it opened 12 years ago. “Inflation and what’s happening in our economy [right now] has impacted us more than COVID did,” Hollowell said.

Switchpoint received a donation of 20,000 pounds of food from the Church on Thursday, March 5. Some 120 volunteers, many of them JustServe volunteers, came that day to help unload and sort it. Hollowell said the organization often receives food close to its expiration date, so it cannot stay on shelves long. The donated items, which include dried goods with long shelf life, can help families stretch simple meals with ingredients such as salt, flour, sugar, pasta and cornmeal. “It took some pressure off our local systems to where we feel like we’re not having to say, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t give you enough to last this week,'” she said. Hollowell said that, depending on how it is used, the donated food could be used to expand 10,000 to 15,000 meals.

Feeding Westchester in Elmsford, New York, received food on March 19. The organization works with 175 partner agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, schools and community centers, to distribute food donations. A social media post on the organization’s Facebook page said, “Together, this is what service at scale looks like — meeting urgent needs while building stronger, more connected communities.”

Source: Read the original report