Hundreds of volunteers take part in OC Food Bank’s MLK Day of Service event in Garden Grove on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. They packed food boxes for those in need. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hundreds of volunteers take part in the MLK Day of Service event at the OC Food Bank in Garden Grove on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. They packed thousands of food boxes for those in need. Lincoln Nguyen, 8, is center. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Carolyn Nguyen and her children, Lincoln, 8, left, and Olivia, 11, take a picture after volunteering at the OC Food Bank in Garden Grove during the annual MLK Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteers are reflected in a ceiling hanging during OC Food Bank’s MLK Day of Service event in Garden Grove on..Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Logan Reynolds, 4, volunteers with his family at the OC Food Bank during the annual food packing event honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Garden Grove on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ryan Tittsworth takes a picture with his sons Braxton, 9, and Garrett,6, after volunteering at the OC Food Bank in Garden Grove during the annual Day of Service event honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
1 of 76OCR-L-MLKFOOD-0116-05-MS.jpg
Kelly Priestly transforms into a “Hunger Fighter,” during OC Food Bank’s MLK Day of Service event in Garden Grove on Monday, January 15, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hundreds of volunteers at the OC Food Bank in Garden Grove help pack food boxes for those in need during the annual event honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hundreds of volunteers take part in OC Food Bank’s MLK Day of Service event in Garden Grove on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. They packed food boxes for those in need. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Sydney Willis, 10, left, and her sister Gillian Willis, 13, with a group from SCATS Gymnastics in Huntington Beach, take part in Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service at the OC Food Bank in Garden Grove on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Four-year-old Ella Mendoza helps out at the OC Food Bank warehouse in Garden Grove on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Volunteers took part in the annual food packing event on the MLK National Day of Service.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
For nearly as long as the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday has been an official day of service, community members have gathered at the OC Food Bank to work together to help make sure others are not going hungry.
The annual food packing event marked 25 years on Monday with hundreds of people, old and young, participating, many of them volunteering together as families or community groups.
“Each year, we’re humbled and grateful to see hundreds of volunteers at the OC Food Bank to help with our annual food packing event honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy,” said Gregory C. Scott, president and CEO of Community Action Partnership of Orange County, which runs the food bank, along with a diaper bank and resource centers, offers rental and utility assistance and more to residents in need.
“For 25 years, people have volunteered their time to prepare thousands of food boxes for vulnerable people throughout the county,” Scott said. “As a ‘day on, not a day off,’ it is inspiring to see so many people come together to help serve those most vulnerable in our communities.”
