A record number of OVS high school students continued their support of Food Share of Ventura County on Wednesday by helping to distribute food boxes to families in need.
For two solid hours, 41 students loaded 1,056 cars with produce, cartons of milk and eggs, bags of apples and other emergency food supplies until all of it was gone.
It was the largest-ever group of OVS student volunteers to assist Food Share, which has been trying to meet the needs of more food-insecure families during the government shutdown.
Food Share workers said Wednesday they have seen a definite uptick in the number of people seeking assistance since the government shutdown, and that need truly skyrocketed since the start of November as the government has failed to fund food assistance programs such as SNAP and CalFresh.
“There were more distribution stations than are normally set up, and that was only possible because our kids showed up in big numbers,” said OVS teacher Fred Alvarez. “The timing was significant.”
The students involved were all members of the OVS volleyball and flag football teams, including nine seniors who have been following the shutdown in their U.S. Government class.
On Wednesday, they found themselves loading boxes alongside Congresswoman Julia Brownley, who represents part of the Ojai Valley.
“Our students worked hard the entire time,” Mr. Alvarez. “I could not be prouder of their contributions and their effort.”