Orange County Rescue Mission has been distributing food to individuals in need in Orange County for over 25 years through our food box distribution program. Through this program, boxes of food are assembled with donated foods. The boxes are then distributed to low income families, who need assistance to keep their families fed. Families come seeking assistance through our various programs or from community partners.
Along with our non-profit partners, Orange County Rescue Mission distributes the food to families in need. But the food source is provided by the generous members of our community. Our goal is to collect enough food to distribute 400 boxes each month.
We have in the past faced shortages, due to various reasons, and we are now facing one again. We are in need of more food donations for February and the months following.
The Orange County Register, several local blogs, KFI and KNX radio, KTLA, KCAL and CBS  getting the word out detailing our need for food for these boxes. We have been met with an overwhelming community response since the need has been publicized. I would like to thank each person that came to the aid of families in Orange County and donated food or money towards this cause.
But the need is not met yet, and there are families and individuals in our community who need your help.

Read the Register’s article below to learn more. Or link to our website for the food needed, and how to drop off or mail in your donations.

Orange County Rescue Mission, seen in 2009, is experiencing a shortage of food donations. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Orange County Rescue Mission says it is facing a serious drop in food to distribute to local families in need and is seeking emergency donations.
A decline in donations of canned and boxed food items since the holidays has been so severe, the nonprofit is cutting in half the number of monthly food boxes it hopes to provide in the near future to homeless and other needy families, from 800 down to 400.
The privately funded organization is asking for the community’s help in gathering 33,600 canned and boxed food items to provide six months’ worth of food.
The Rescue Mission has been distributing food to the needy for more than 25 years and has experienced shortages before, such as in 2009 during the Great Recession when the need for donations doubled from the previous year. Rescue Mission operators said the rise in homelessness from 2013 to 2015 is contributing to increased need at a time when food donations are down.
The number of food items in each food category the Rescue Mission is requesting range from 2,400 to 4,800. Needs include:
Canned food: 5-ounce cans of meat and tuna; 15-ounce cans of soup, vegetables, fruits, and beans; 18-ounce jars of peanut butter; and 24-ounce jars of spaghetti sauce.
Boxed or bagged food: 6-ounce boxes of rice and mashed potatoes; 7.5-ounce boxes of macaroni and cheese; and 15-ounce bags of dry pasta.
Donations can be dropped off from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday at the Rescue Mission’s Village of Hope housing campus, 1 Hope Drive, Tustin. Food items also can be ordered online and sent to the Village of Hope at OCRM Donation Warehouse, c/o Mike Martinez, 1 Hope Drive, Tustin, CA, 92782.
For more information, call 714-247-4303 or email info@rescuemission.org.

Giving online is easy, safe, and quick. Your donation will make an immediate impact to provide meals, shelter and services for a homeless family in desperate need of a hand up to self-sufficiency.