Long Beach Community Table Needs You!!

Food distribution days at the Long Beach Community Table are lively.

Volunteers and staffers sort through boxes full of fruits and vegetables as fellow community members who are there to receive help come in and out of the building. The space has become a safe haven for many to receive their weekly groceries and other basic necessities.

The local nonprofit strives to support the well-being, empowerment and self-determination of food and housing-insecure residents in the greater Long Beach area with dignity and compassion by providing nutritious food, hygiene products, clothing and other essentials.

“Our main focus is compassion and dignity with people because when you’re in this situation, it can be shamed,” said Kristen Cox, founder and executive director of Long Beach Table. “But it shouldn’t be.

“We’re very focused on just treating people like human beings,” she added, “because 80% of Americans right now are living paycheck to paycheck, and prices are astronomical.”

The nonprofit was founded in 2018 and has since grown so much, Cox said, helping thousands of people get the healthy food and necessities they need.

Each week, Long Beach Community Table distributes more than 40,000 pounds of groceries and food produce – as well as clothing and toiletries – to more than 6,000 homeless individuals, low-income families, students, seniors, veterans, and homebound people with disabilities or medical conditions, at no charge to the recipients.

The primary programs Long Beach Community Table offers include weekly distributions of organic produce, nutritious food and basic essentials from its facility, 3311 E. 59th St.; homebound deliveries and mobile food pantries at parks across Long Beach on the weekends; and educational programs about urban gardens and resources around the city.

Volunteers are an essential part of how the nonprofit continues operating and growing, she said. People help with the weekly food distributions at the facility, but also drive around on the weekends to make deliveries and as part of the mobile food pantry. People of all different backgrounds find ways to help at Long Beach Community Table, Cox said, ranging from high school and college students to those looking for second opportunities in life.

While the need of the community has increased, however, the financial support to be able to fight food insecurity has not, Cox said.

“Right now, we have fewer resources coming in from the government and others,” Cox said, “and more need, and the need is just going to keep going up.”

Financial support not only helps with getting food and items for those who need it, but it also helps with rent, bills and paying staff who work to provide these services to the community, she said. It is a major challenge, Cox added, as federal and state grant opportunities begin to slowly disappear, and the support of other corporations and foundations begins to dwindle as well.

While it’s a difficult time for many across the region, Long Beach Community Table will continue to serve its mission, Cox said. It will continue to be a cooperative, mutual-aid group where everyone gives, receives and takes care of each other to first meet basic needs, then to collectively create greater self-sufficiency for individuals, families and communities, according to the nonprofit’s website.

“I think one of the many nice things about mutual aid is that you are constantly rubbing shoulders with somebody that could have a very different life story than you,” Cox said, “and it kind of opens people’s eyes to (the fact that) all people are human beings and deserve to be treated like human beings.”

Those interested in volunteering with Long Beach Community Table can send an email to LBCTvolunteers@gmail.com.

Thank you for your care and support!!!