A festive way to highlight food insecurity in Ventura County is underway as the finishing touches are being put on one of seven 15-foot Christmas trees in Figueroa Plaza. Each tree is created from 10,000 cans of food.
"This is one of our largest food and fun drives of the year. We have over a hundred businesses that are participating this weekend," said Jennifer Caldwell, Chief Development Officer for Food Share Ventura County, of their 14th annual CAN-Tree Drive.
She said that while the event is festive and fun, food insecurity is a huge issue in the county.
"Two hundred fifty thousand Ventura County residents visited one of our food pantries last year. That's one in four in Ventura County," said Caldwell. "So there is a lot of need here in Ventura County, and this is one of those events where the community just really steps up to come together to help the food bank."
The cans will be distributed to families and individuals in need.
