KPFK is proud to work with the following organizations during our year-end giving campaign focused on hunger relief:

Hunger Action Los Angeles Working to end hunger and promote healthy eating
http://www.hungeractionla.org

L.A. Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs is organized according to anarchist principles of non-hierarchy and decentralization. They take food that would otherwise be thrown away and make healthy, vegan meals for the hungry. On Sundays, Food Not Bombs serves hot meals on the Venice Boardwalk, Skid Row and other locations, depending on the chapter. The Skid Row service also happens on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Fresh fruits and vegetables are gathered on Friday and Saturday from the surplus of farmers’ markets, like the South Central Farmers who are now growing food in Bakersfield, and come down to L.A. and sell at the local farmers’ markets in Leimert Park, Atwater, Hollywood, Watts and at City Hall. Rice and beans are added to the menu, as FNB is committed to serving fresh, vegan meals to those in need. The meals are cooked at certified kitchens at Recreation Centers, and the menu most times consists of salad, a vegetable side (a curry stir-fry, for example), soup, rice, beans and a vegan dessert.

History of the International FNB Movement
Food Not Bombs began in the early 1980s in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, a city adjacent to Boston, when a group of anti-nuclear activists, who were protesting the nearby Seabrook power plant, began spray-painting the slogan “Money for food, not for bombs” around the city. The slogan was shortened to “Food Not Bombs”, and it became the name of their group. Soon after, they decided to put their slogan into practice. At a meeting of wealthy bank executives who were financing nuclear power projects, the group showed up and started handing out free food outside to a crowd of three hundred homeless people. The action was so successful that the group began doing it on a regular basis, collecting surplus food from grocery stores and preparing it into meals.

Today, there are more than 400 chapters of Food Not Bombs listed on the www.foodnotbombs.net website, with about half the chapters active outside the United States. Food Not Bombs has a loose structure: every chapter of Food Not Bombs embraces a few basic principles, and carries out the same sort of action, but every chapter is free to make its own decisions, based on the needs of its community. Likewise, every chapter of Food Not Bombs operates on consensus: everybody has an equal say in making decisions. Besides collecting and distributing food for free, most chapters of Food Not Bombs are involved in community anti-poverty, anti-war and pro-immigrant organizing, as well as many other political causes.

Starting Monday, December 22nd KPFK will serve as a drop-off point for much needed items for the homeless and indigent. Items such as socks, shoes, jackets, blankets, rain ponchos and tarps, as well as new tooth brushes and toothpaste (for adults and children) are in particular demand. There will be a container in the reception area of the station to receive these items from 9am to 5pm Monday and Tuesday of next week.

Thank you for your generosity this holiday season!