Channel Islands--The Second Annual Holiday Food & Toy Drive, hosted by the Ventura County Harbor Department and Harbor & Beach Community Alliance, had Fisherman’s Wharf lined with cars of people donating food, toys, and money to help people hurting during the holidays.
T
HE Holiday Food &
Toy Drive benefits
Food Share of Ventura County and the Spark of Love Toy Drive, an annual effort coordinated by local fire departments providing toys to thousands of children each year.
Rene Aiu from the Harbor & Beach Community Alliance leadership team was excited to see all the community support.
“Santa Claus has really delivered, and the community has been just tremendous again this year,” Aiu said. “We’ve raised over $11,000 in cash, plus the matching fund of $10,000. That’s over $21,000. We’ve already had two truckloads of toys that went out, and we’re probably going to have at least another truckload of toys. We’ve almost filled the Food Share Truck too with all the bins.”
In 2020, she said, they raised over 5,000 pounds of food, over 2,200 toys, and over $14,000.
“People don’t realize that the need is even worse,” she said. “Food Share is feeding 140,000 people a month, and…
