Riverside, CA – Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino (FARSB) hosted the 7^th Annual Million Meals Gala – Rising Above Hunger at the Grier Pavilion on top of Riverside City Hall in Downtown Riverside, CA on the evening of Saturday, November 2, 2019.

The 7^th Annual Million Mills Gala honored Dr. Anil Garde and Mrs. Gigi Garde of Riverside and featured live music by the Inland Empire’s Brassworks as well as a special guest presentation made by UCR Alumna and Hunger Advocate, Melina Reyes.

In 2016, Melina Reyes, a fourth-year Political Science major at UC Riverside went on a 5 day (115 hours) hunger strike to raise awareness for food-insecurity that she, and many of her classmates, faced while attending the university. UC Riverside is rated the highest amongst all UC campuses for food-insecurity, with 62% of students experiencing it on campus.

During the evening, winners of the community voted “Hunger Hero Awards” were given to community advocates who dedicated their efforts to fighting hunger in 2019. Winner of Partner Charity of The Year was Inland Valley Christian Fellowship. Winner of Media Partner of The Year was KVCR. Key Community Champion was Big Bear Rotary. Winner of Key Corporate Champion was Hendrick Automotive Group.

An additional President’s Choice award, whose recipient was be chosen by FARSB CEO, Stephanie Otero, was awarded to Eric Roberts, an Eagle Scout candidate who transformed the food bank’s old pallets into movable walls to enclose the volunteer area for special events.

In the Inland Empire, more than 400,000 people struggle with hunger and may not know where they’ll find their next meal. That number includes 1 in 5 children.

Proceeds from the event, which amounted to the equivalent of nearly one million meals, will help to provide holiday meals to food-insecure children and families in the Inland Empire.

Sponsors of the Million Meals Gala included: Target, Pechanga, Hodgdon Group, Challah for Hunger, Walmart, Molina Healthcare, Wells Fargo, Kaiser Permanente, Mike and Clara Vanderpool, the Majestic Realty Foundation, Riverside Medical Clinic, Healthnet, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Alaska Airlines, and Inland Empire Magazine.

Donations benefiting the FARSB Million Meals Campaign are still being accepted at www.FeedingIE.org/donate.

About Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino

Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino (FARSB) is leading the fight against hunger in the Inland Empire by providing food access, emergency relief, education, and advocacy to families in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. FARSB opened in 1980 as Survive Food Bank in response to the increasing concern about the dual problems of hunger and food waste in the Inland Empire. Today, FARSB is the primary source of food for over 300 local nonprofit organizations, distributing over one million pounds of food monthly to emergency food pantries, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, high-need elementary schools, halfway houses, senior centers, residential treatment centers, shelters for the abused, after school programs and group homes. With the help of these charity partners, we make up the largest hunger-relief organization in the Inland Empire, making food security a reality for over 1.2 million people every year.