LOS ANGELES – (Dec. 23, 2020) – More than 8,000 individuals from the greater Los Angeles area are celebrating the holidays with nutritious food thanks to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, the Los Angeles Rams and Pechanga Resort Casino. For the third drive-thru food distribution event at SoFi Stadium during the 2020 NFL season, the Rams and the LA Regional Food Bank teamed up with Pechanga to provide families in need with holiday meals that featured Don Lee frozen chicken, oranges, potatoes and a shelf stable kit. Each vehicle that drove through the contactless food distribution also received facemasks and personal-size bottles of hand sanitizer. Rams Cheerleaders, Rampage, front office staff and volunteers helped load meal kits in a socially distanced and safe manner.
"Tens of thousands of Angelenos are hurting from the pain caused by this pandemic," said Jared Munoa, President of the Pechanga Development Corporation. "Our Tribe knows adversity. We are grateful to provide a little bit of help and hopefully some joy during this holiday season."
The initiative was part of the Rams' 3rd Annual Community Blitz Day of Service, when the team works alongside community partners during the holidays to host volunteer efforts throughout the greater Los Angeles region.
"The Rams are proud to work with community partners such as Pechanga and the LA Regional Food Bank to provide meals to more than 2,000 families during this holiday season," said Lexi Vonderlieth, Rams Vice President of Partnership Marketing. "Together, we made the holidays brighter for neighbors who have fallen on hard times as the number of households battling food insecurity continues to rise in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic."
"This is the third distribution at the new SoFi Stadium in partnership with our long-time partners, the LA Rams, and between all three events, more than 7,000 families will have received the healthy food they need," said LA Regional Food Bank President and CEO, Michael Flood "We are thankful to the LA Rams and to Pechanga Resort Casino for collaborating with us on this event to provide food to the community."
The Los Angeles Rams and Pechanga teamed up with LA Regional Food Bank to give back to 8,000 Angelenos with a mobile food bank at SoFi Stadium on Tuesday. The initiative was part of the Rams' 3rd Annual Community Blitz Day of Service and was the third mobile food distribution hosted at SoFi Stadium in 2020.
Los Angeles County is home to one of the largest food-insecure populations of any county in the United States. According to the California Food Policy Advocates, before the pandemic, an estimated two million people in the county lived with food insecurity. After the outbreak, that number has increased markedly. The Los Angeles Food Bank now reaches more than 900,000 people each month.
Pechanga and the Los Angeles Rams are corporate partners and continually give back to their communities throughout Southern California.
For more information about how Pechanga has been giving back during the pandemic, visit www.pechanga.com/community-outreach-during-pandemic.
To learn more about the Rams' community outreach efforts, visit therams.com/community.
For more information on the Los Angeles Food Bank, visit LAFoodBank.org.
