COA You Tube Video

I was searching for information about Food Bank on Redondo Avenue where my neighbors Phil and Mike volunteer. Mike tells me they often cancel giveaways due to running out of food. It is supposed to run the food bank every second Saturday; due to cancellations, the sequence is different than what I had marked on my calendar. I want to volunteer there as well as the one on 7th Street and Obispo.

Like pulling teeth from chicken to find a list of places that host food banks here in Long Beach. I did find this video of the COA. When I was first homeless, staying at Green Leaf Hotel compliments of homeless assistance program, I volunteered to help prepare/serve breakfast at the COA. Also ate many meals there.

The kitchen and dining area shown in video look a whole lot cleaner than when I used to be a regular visitor. The same is true of the clothing room. I got clothes there a few times, sweats and jackets mostly. I also donated clean unwanted items; some my personal things after I realized the backpack and bags were too heavy to hold on to old wardrobe. Other stuff was given to me by people, homed or homeless.

I only went to their food bank once. Canned goods they gave away were too heavy for me to tote around; did not need things that required cooking (rice, noodles and such) and the day I went, not much selection of dry goods (like cereal or snacks) to make it worthwhile to stand in that long line for an hour or more.

I share this COA You Tube Video rather than the first one I found. This says it is for an ABC contest, but the other was basically about the Christmas toy giveaway, whereas this one shows the kitchen, homeless people exiting the dinning area and also the church where we used to listen to a sermon before being allowed to eat dinner.