Volunteers from across the county gathered Thursday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in San Luis Obispo to help distribute 24 pallets of food to county nonprofits.
The large donation of food was sent by Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, totaling 40,000 pounds.
The church has more than 17 million members worldwide. Seventy-thousand missionaries spend two years at a time serving their assigned communities, some of whom were part of the group of 50 volunteers in San Luis Obispo on Thursday morning.
Some of the 15 nonprofit organizations that were receiving canned goods from Thursday’s distribution include CAPSLO, People’s Self-Help Housing, Loaves and Fishes, HASLO, Grassroots II, Lumina Alliance, Meals that Connect, and Salvation Army.
"I found out about this event today from Heather of Grassroots organization," said Granite Ridge Christian Camp Executive Director Shay Stewart. “We participate in some activities throughout the community, working with Front Porch at Cal Poly and ECHO and 40 Prado from CAPSLO. It's just an opportunity for us to be able to help and give back and spend a little time."
In 2022, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints distributed 7.2 million pounds of surplus food to San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties.
“We serve worldwide," said Missionary Keaton Pickrell. "We have 17 million members of our congregation and there’s 70,000 missionaries and right now we are probably serving 500 people with this act we are doing.”
