Local producer donates new van to Food Bank for Monterey County

One step closer to getting back to normal. On Thursday, local producer Naturipe donated a new cargo van packed full of berries all for the Food Bank for Monterey County.

The cargo van will help the Food Bank deliver much needed food to local pantries across the county. The producer reached out to the Food Bank after last month’s devastating arson. After finding out their fleet was decimated, Naturipe took it upon themselves to buy them a new van.

“I can smile now for the first time in two weeks,” Melissa Kendrick, executive director of the Food Bank for Monterey County, said. “This is just an unbelievable gift. What this means to the Food Bank, to the recipient population. What this says about the ag community and their support for us. Naturipe really stepped up and said, ‘We want to do something for you.’ We told them what we needed and they gave it to us.”

But that wasn’t all.

When the Food Bank arrived to the Naturipe facility to pick it up, the van was packed full of strawberries.

“We’re placing one thousand pounds of fresh strawberries, about a pallet full, into this cargo van,” Sonny Pulido, Naturipe’s director of product integrity, said.

Packed full of produce, it was sent out for delivery.

“They are going to be immediately delivered to our agencies that have been desperate for produce,” Kendrick said.

And into the grateful hands of people in need.

“I think when you see the delighted faces in the agencies,” Kendrick said. “Then following that, our neighbors, the recipient population to receive this bounty today. That’s going to say it all. When a child is going to open this up and pop one of these into his mouth, that’s going to say it all.”

Naturipe says they hope their donation will inspire others to follow suit.

“The whole community should be stepping up and helping out because we’re all in this together,” Pulido said. “We all want to help each other and we don’t want anybody to go hungry, especially here in this rich community full of fruits and vegetables.”

Another local group is pitching in to help also. On Thursday, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula announced its giving the Food Bank a $10,000 grant to help it recover from the fire. The hospital’s president said helping the Food Bank is important since it provides food for nearly 20% of the county.