LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After 19 years of continuous operation, the Lake County Hunger Task Force is disbanding.

The group said the primary reason is lack of volunteers to help with projects all year long.

The Hunger Task Force was formed in January 2001, the result of recommendations made following a hunger study conducted in Lake and Mendocino counties.

The first meeting was held in the board chambers of the courthouse in Lakeport, and there were 45 people in attendance.

That evolved into monthly meetings, throughout the years, held at various venues. Committees were formed, a mission statement and goal were decided upon.

Attendance soon slipped to about 20 people, as talking was the only activity. In October 2001 the garden committee created and planted the first community garden, at the former homeless shelter in Clearlake. This was accomplished on Make A Difference Day.

Following that time, membership slipped and only the garden committee survived. “We were led extremely capably for many years by Pete Johnson, then the leader for Habitat for Humanity in Lake County. He dedicated many years to our organization,” the group said.

Our other project that day was a food drive, with the food given to pantries around the lake. From that year on until 2019, the task force participated in the nationwide Make A Difference Day, which was accomplished with the help of volunteers from AmeriCorps, Kelseyville High School Interact students, K-Corps, and others from various organizations. This food drive morphed into the Stuff-A-Bus event at the urging and cooperation of Lake County Transit.

The task force extended its thanks to Lake Transit, Clearlake Grocery Outlet, Lakeport Grocery Outlet, and all who contributed items. “From 2000 until 2019, we collected and distributed 73,588 pounds of nonperishable food.”

In 2002 the task force held what is believed to have been the first-ever local "food summit," gathering all groups who had pantries and food programs. Another was held about four years later. “We hoped to coordinate information and schedules for the county, which proved to be only partially successful,” the task force said.

From 2002 until 2019, the group conducted canning lessons once a year. They were able to help 236 families and individuals learn the skills necessary to home can, and provided them with a canner, jars, books and a jar lifter to take home. These lessons were all hands-on, giving participants experience and confidence to do this on their own.

“We will forever be eternally grateful to the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church for the loan of their wonderful commercial kitchen,” the task force said.

Until the group was awarded a grant from the Lake County Wine Alliance in 2003 for $9,600, it relied on donations alone. “We applied for, and received, an additional $2,500 in 2009, for which we will always give kudos. They also donated $2,500 in 2019 to the Lake County Holiday Fund.”

In 2006, and again in 2012, the group conducted hunger surveys, which were compiled into booklets and disseminated throughout the county. Social work students from Pacific Union College conducted most of the surveys, and additional ones were done at food pantries and extended into the unhoused population. “Our gratitude is extended to Fiona Bullock, who led the students in these surveys, provided the compilation and conclusions,” the task force said.

Without the task force’s close alliance with North Coast Opportunities, including warehouse space, it would not have been able to conduct many of its activities.

North Coast Opportunities’ leader in Lake County, Tammy Alakszay, was a member of the task force since 2002. She originally came onboard as an employee of the Lake County Office of Education, working with the AmeriCorps volunteers.

“Over the years we participated in Hunger Action Day in Sacramento, tabled at the farmers market, talked with groups around the county, helped with school gardens, maintained and disseminated a food resource list, and helped feed people via other groups. Our most successful endeavor was our gardens,” the task force reported.

The group said it was fortunate to have landowners donate land and water for our gardens. The longest surviving garden was at Yoxagoi Farms, with Maile Field and Lars Crail supporting the efforts.

Later Bernie Butcher let the group use the Old Feed Mill property in Upper Lake. That garden is still operating and will be maintained by the Upper Lake High School FFA and 4H students, led by the extremely energetic Erica Boomer.

From 2010 until 2020, the task force’s gardens produced 68,584 pounds of produce. “We did not keep records until 2010, so the total is not really known,” the group said.

“No mention of our gardens would be complete without saying that without the mentorship and guidance of Sky Hoyt we could not have accomplished all we did. He taught us what grew best in Lake County, and helped us to achieve a high rate of production. He invented the waist-high tabletop growing system that we would incorporate in our gardens. He also allowed us to glean produce at his farm, as well as donating excess to the food pantries. We cannot thank him enough,” the task force said.

The task force said it was fortunate to have the loan of a greenhouse from the Lake County Office of Education, where it started all of its plants from seed. The money to buy all of the plant starts the group needed would have been impossible to sustain, so this greenhouse was integral to its garden projects. The garden alone had 98 tomato plants.

“We spent a lot of time gleaning in the late summer and fall. We gleaned pears, walnuts, and red flame seedless grapes. Our many, many thanks to Maile Field, Dan Goff, Nellie Dorn and Diane Henderson,” the task force said.

Beginning in about 2010, the task force participated in the holiday box program, at that time run by Lou Denny of the Lake County Community Action Agency. This role has been taken on by North Coast Opportunities, Community Action. Those boxes of food were provided by funds donated from citizens locally to the fund started years earlier by Judi Pollace of the Lake County Record-Bee.

In 2016 the group was asked to be the fiscal agent for the funds, and have been helping with it yearly. With eternal thanks to Scully Packing Co., which provided all of the boxes used – approximately 25,000 boxes over the years – along with Dennis Darling of Foods, Etc, Carlos Fagundes of Bruno's Shop Smart, Rotary Club of Lakeport, Beth Berinti of the Lake Family Resource Center, and Lou Denny of the Hunger Task Force. That program continues today.

Due to COVID, this year recipients were given gift cards to shop for themselves, 400 each in Lakeport and Clearlake.

The group offered a huge thank you to Dennis Darling for matching the funds to be used at Foods, Etc, and Carlos Fagundes, whose corporate offices donated an additional $5,000 to be spent at Bruno's Shop Smart.

That program will continue under the financial auspices of the Lake Family Resource Center. Donations to the Lake County Holiday Fund may be made at any time of year, either at Umpqua Bank or WestAmerica Bank.

In 2010 the task force began its most successful fundraising event, the Bountiful Boxes. The idea originated with Michelle Scully, and was carried out by group members, with help from other volunteers.

Yearly, due to the incredible generosity of Scully Packing Co. (primarily Toni and Pat Scully), the task force put together gift boxes full of Lake County products. The donation of premium Comice pears was the basis for the boxes, and all included a bottle of local wine or olive oil, wonderful walnuts, and a few years' delicious apples. The task force offered many thanks to all who donated, primarily Scully Packing Co., Six Sigma, Steele, Shannon, Chacewater, Lake County Walnut, Mike Marshall, Colleen Rentsch and Nellie Dorn.

For approximately four years the task force ran a backpack program for the children of Nice, Lucerne and Upper Lake, which is a very underserved population.

Every Friday selected children were sent home with a backpack full of food they did not have to cook, but could eat immediately. Many of those were latch key kids, so there was no one home to cook for them. This gave them some healthy, nutritious food to eat over the weekend when they were not getting lunch at school.

The task force ran this through the HUB in Upper Lake, and the group is deeply appreciative of their coordination with local families.

“There are many other accomplishments we achieved, but too numerous to mention here. As our final act, per our by-laws, all our remaining funds have been distributed to 14 other nonprofit organizations, to be used for food only,” the group said.

“It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye. It seems that in 2020 there are fewer people with either the time or inclination to volunteer. People need to eat daily, not just during holiday seasons. We have spoken with many other groups that are having the same problem, from churches to fraternal organizations to food pantries. We are aging out of being volunteers,” the group said in a farewell message.

The group concluded, “A million thanks to all who supported us with our efforts, whether it be physical labor, distributing food or other items, serving on our board, donating money and time, attending meetings, or just providing us with moral support. We will all still volunteer in the communities, just not as an official group.”