Michael Flood, photographed on the Los Angeles Instances in El Segundo on Sept. 8.
A few month after COVID-19 locked down many of the state within the spring of 2020, Debbie Deck, who runs a neighborhood meals pantry, determined to remain open when so many had shut down. However most of her volunteers had gone residence and the pantry was rapidly working out of meals.
On the identical time, the necessity at her pantry had greater than quintupled — from 2,500 folks a month to 14,000. Households from as distant as Ventura and south Orange County traveled to the West Valley Meals Pantry in Woodland Hills.
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Determined, she referred to as Michael Flood, the longtime director of the Los Angeles Regional Meals Financial institution. Flood himself was within the midst of making an attempt to feed greater than twice as many individuals as he had pre-pandemic.
“Michael, I’m in hassle. I need assistance,” Deck instructed him.
Within the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, bereft of staples, neighborhood grocery shops that normally donated to the pantry not may, she defined to him. As well as, a lot of her volunteers have been scared to depart their properties.
“Hold on,” Flood instructed her. “I’ll get again to you.”
Not lengthy after that decision, Deck began fielding calls from folks wanting to assist. The Sensible & Remaining Charitable Basis pulled up with an 18-wheeler filled with meals. Amazon Recent, which needed to postpone its grand opening because of the pandemic, donated hundreds of kilos of meat and produce. Employees from a close-by hospital volunteered to assist Deck set up drive-through meals distribution.
“We have been capable of keep open all by COVID and it was actually due to Michael’s connections,” Deck mentioned.
Flood, 61, who has led the meals financial institution for greater than 20 years, used his deep connections with non-public donors and native, state and nationwide authorities officers to ramp up efforts to serve the rising quantity of people that wanted meals through the pandemic.
His relationships with Los Angeles County officers allowed the meals financial institution to host large-scale meals distributions at big venues, such because the Hollywood Bowl. And though the extreme early days of the pandemic are actually up to now, Flood mentioned the demand for meals stays excessive. Meals inflation and pandemic-era packages coming to an finish are simply a number of the causes so many within the county need assistance.
At present, Flood and his crew — in coordination with a community of greater than 600 companion companies, together with soup kitchens, homeless shelters and senior packages — feed about 900,000 folks each month.
“The necessity continues to be there,” he mentioned.
