Story & photos by Bailey Miller

The city of Santa Clarita and the SCV Food Pantry have teamed up to host the sixth annual Summer Food Drive to help local families in need. The drive is already under way and continues through Aug. 29.

“Summer is historically the time of year that we have our greatest need and our lowest amount of support,” said Belinda Crawford, executive director of the SCV Food Pantry. “Summer is a time when kids are out of school and families are taking their vacations and donations are down.”

Summer can be a difficult time for low-income families in the Santa Clarita Valley. While kids are home from school for the summer, many are eating all of their meals at home – and that effects the “families that are already really stretched to put one meal on the table,” Crawford said.

It’s a struggle for the Food Pantry to keep up with the high demand during the summer.

“It has been slow as far as donations,” Crawford said. “Right now, we are running very low on canned tomatoes and canned meats like chili, tuna and peanut butter.”

Yet she has no doubt the summer food drive will help the pantry and those in need.

Collection bins for non-perishable food donations have been set up at eight city facilities including City Hall, the Santa Clarita Sports Complex, Transit Maintenance Facility, Central Park, the city’s Corporate Yard, and the Valencia, Old Town Newhall and Canyon Country libraries.

For more information visit the SCV Food Pantry online at http://www.scvfoodpantry.org.