Tag: Giveback

#Chefs4Vegas Host a Fresh Food Drive Weekly for Locals

Local Las Vegas Chefs and their families come together weekly to distribute fresh foods to Las Vegas local and neighboring communities.

The kindness shown by Las Vegas locals has only grown since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Locals are taking time out of their days to come out and make sure that community members have essential food items. 

Chefs4Vegas is a recently formed group of local chefs that organize weekly food distributions to support the Las Vegas community.  Thanks to a grant from the USDA, Get Fresh, a local produce vendor built 25 pound boxes of fresh produce to compliment the partnership with Chefs4Vegas. On distribution days,  deliveries are made by 8am for the event to start promptly at 9am. This weekly event is set to serve up to 300 families in a drive by, contactless setting.

Volunteers handing out children’s coloring books

“Our overall goal is to help our community through the best way chefs know how, through food.” Said Chef Jon Batista, President of Chefs4Vegas and owner of the Your Panadas food truck. 

To date, Chefs4Vegas has delivered over 15,000 boxes (188 tons) of fresh produce to churches, community centers, families, and other key sites experiencing food insecurities.

Chefs4Vegas has now been granted a 501c3, which acknowledged them as a full-fledged non-profit organization. Recognized by Clark County Commissioner, Tick Segerblom, the chefs were awarded a proclamation as a testament to the dedication of the entire group helping locals in a time of crisis. 

June 24th was another big day for Chefs4Vegas as they traveled to McGill, Nevada to set up a food pantry for that community. They served over 1,200 community members including members in Ely and White Pine County. 

The novel Coronavirus disease, COVID-19 is creating an evolving situation with varied impacts felt in our city and around the world. That being said, it is crucial that organizations like Chefs4Vegas continue to carry out these charitable events. 

Please support their initiative by following them on social media and donating to their mission.

Please share your comments about Chefs4Vegas and their supportive efforts in the comment section below.

Three Square Keeps Las Vegas Locals Fed During Pandemic

Three Square strives to feed the community of Las Vegas during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Coronavirus has taken a toll on the world, but Las Vegas locals will not let this pandemic stop the good works of keeping our community solid. In mid-March Three Square Food Bank implemented an Emergency Food Distribution Strategy in response to COVID-19

In an effort to serve as many community members as possible, Three Square collaborated with select agency partners and volunteers located in key regions throughout Las Vegas Valley. These volunteers assisted with the distribution of food at 40 emergency food distribution sites.  Palace Station was one of these sites! 

Photo credit: @JeffScheid

Starting March 11, Three Square implemented a disaster response plan to address the following: school and business closures, drastic declines in retail food donations, social distancing limitations on volunteer efforts, reduced on-site staff support, and the need for low-contact food distributions. These strategies were put in place to make sure that the Las Vegas community still had access to food during these uncertain times.

Photo credit: @JeffScheid

The Nevada National Guard was also called to respond and help Three Square with their initiatives. Soldiers helped direct traffic as cars lined up to receive their goods.

There have been a number of changes since that time, including the number of emergency food distribution sites as well as locations, hours and dates of operation. A current updated list of distribution sites can be found at three square.org/help. 

Since the beginning, Three Square has increased weekly food distribution from 1 million pounds to 1.3 million pounds—the equivalent of 250,000 meals per week. With nearly 30,000 calls to the Three Square call center, about 6.5 million meals have been distributed since March 16th.

Photo credit: @JeffScheid

Three Square is a Southern Nevada food bank that brings together the resources, the experience and the passion of the people and businesses of Southern Nevada to make sure children, individuals and seniors receive the food they need. 

Three Square has created a Coronavirus Emergency Food Fund to help them remain nimble in responding to food assistance needs across the valley. For more information on how you can donate to the Three Square Coronavirus Emergency Food Fund, please visit threesquare.org or call at (702) 644-3663.

Please share your comments about Three Square’s service to the community in the comment section below.