PG&E Donates to Food Providers

Written by Neil Farrell

Neil has been a journalist covering the Estero Bay Area for over 27 years. He’s won numerous journalism awards in several different categories over his career.

August 12, 2021

Pacific Gas & Electric has made another cash donation to an area food provider, bringing the company’s total donations this year to over $30,000, the company announced Aug. 3.

PG&E donated $5,000 to the Santa Maria Good Samaritan Shelter, which provides food for the needy in the Santa Maria area.

With that donation, PG&E’s total giving rose to $32,500 “so far in 2021,” said PG&E spokesman Mark Mesesen in a news release.

Sylvia Barnard, Executive Director of Good Samaritan Shelter, said, “We are very grateful for PG&E’s support. We’ve experienced increased demand for our services because of the many challenges associated with the pandemic. The funds provided by PG&E have helped us extend our services to more local people who need help.”

The Company also donated money to El Camino Housing Organization (ECHO), which operates three facilities in North SLO County providing food, shelter and support to the homeless. ECHO recently purchased a Motel 6 in Paso Robles to house the homeless.

“The pandemic and shelter-in-place orders,” Wendy Lewis, ECHO President and CEO said, “brought new challenges to our community members facing homelessness and hunger.” 

A total of eight agencies have gotten donations in 2021: ECHO, Santa Maria Good Samaritan, Community Action Partnership of SLO (CAP-SLO), the Five Cities Homeless Shelter; SLO County Food Bank; Santa Barbara County Food Bank, Santa Maria Valley Meals on Wheels, and the Senior Nutrition Program of SLO County — Meals That Connect.

Of those, the SLO County Food Bank and Meals That Connect serve people in the Estero Bay Area, as food bank giveaways are held regularly in Cayucos (every Wednesday, 10:30 a.m. Cayucos Community Church), Morro Bay (third Wednesday of the month, 9:30 a.m. Vet’s Hall) and Los Osos (Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. South Bay Community Center).

These distributions are organized by volunteers with the Cayucos Community Church, Lion’s Club of Morro Bay, and People Helping People in Los Osos, respectively. 

Also, Rock Harbor Christian Fellowship church, 1475 Quintana Rd., Morro Bay, has a food bank giveaway — the Open Arms Pantry — from 9:30-10:30 a.m. every Saturday and the pantry is open daily on a walk-in basis (see: www.slofoodbank.org/food-locator to find a distribution time and place near you).

Teresa Alvarado, PG&E’s Regional Vice President for the South Bay and Central Coast, said, “We wholeheartedly support the efforts of organizations that serve to meet the needs of people struggling with food insecurity and other necessities. As a company and as individuals, we recognize the need to serve and support our hometowns.”

If readers are interested in getting assistance from the food bank, find one nearby online at: www.cafoodbanks.org/find-a-food-bank, by calling 2-1-1, or call the statewide hotline at: (833) 544-2374.

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