Kat's 9 Lives

**Come out and make a difference. Got any old items or canned goods just collecting dust in your house? Come out and donate to help all those indeed. Unfortunately I will be out of town before this event but I vow to help out where I can. I will be up in SF and I plan to give as much food out as I can to the homeless people on the street to "drive out hunger" there too. I hope this will be a wonderful and successful event! I already saw the bins at The Lime Truck! Come out for great food, donate goodies from home, and feel great!** ~Kat's 9 Lives

First Annual Mobile Food Drive to Benefit Second Harvest Food Bank

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 1, 2010 – Saturday Night Foodies, a popular food and restaurant review blog, in conjunction with 20 Orange County Gourmet Food Trucks and other leading food bloggers, will host Drive Out Hunger, the county’s first mobile food drive, benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank. The two week food drive will be held from November 7-20, 2010.

“From the outside, Orange County appears to be a privileged community and yet according to the Second Harvest Food Bank, approximately 615,000 Orange County residents are at risk of going hungry each month,” said Jason Iehl, founder of Saturday Night Foodies. “With the respective followers of gourmet food trucks and food blog readers, we have the power to bring awareness to the hunger problem taking place in our own backyard and really make a difference. We felt holding a food drive would be a great way to rally the foodie community to give to those less fortunate.”

Because the economy has been slow to rebound, donations have been low this year. In turn, the Second Harvest member agencies are reporting an average 35 percent increase in demand for food assistance. The goal of the Drive Out Hunger mobile food drive is to collect 1,000 pounds of food for the Second Harvest Food Bank. Gourmet food truck followers and food enthusiasts are encouraged to bring non-perishable canned or dry food donations when they go to their favorite gourmet food trucks or food truck events during the two week food drive.

The donations that are needed most are:

Non-perishable canned goods or dry food*:
• Canned meats, fish, soup, fruits, vegetables
• Pasta
• Hot and cold cereal
• Macaroni and cheese
• Rice
• Beans
• Peanut butter

Personal care items:
• Diapers
• Toothpaste and toothbrushes
• Toilet paper
• Soap
* Please no glass containers or expired items.

The participating gourmet food trucks will have collection bins at their food stops from Nov. 7-20, to accept donations: Bakery Truck, Barcelona on the Go, CalbiBBQ, ChunknChip, Crepes Bonaparte, DanDanBBQ, Dogzilla Dogs, Dos Chinos, KonaiceBC, Lomo Arigato, Longboards, Louks, Oh For Sweets Sake, Piaggio on Wheels, Seabirds, Shortstop BBQ, The Burnt Truck, The Lime Truck, The Taco Dawg and Tropical Shave Ice. Find their daily locations via their respective Twitter or Facebook pages.

For food enthusiasts that are not located in Orange County, but want to contribute, a virtual food drive has been established online so they can participate regardless of where they are located. Please visit www.saturdaynightfoodies.com and click on the Drive Out Hunger icon to make a monetary contribution. Participating bloggers helping with the virtual drive are: The Cupcake Activist, Diary of a Mad Hungry Woman, Gourmet Food Truck, Marian the Foodie, Just Spotted, Save the Food Trucks and Savored.

About Drive Out Hunger Mobile Food Drive
Drive Out Hunger is a mobile food drive collaboration between Saturday Night Foodies, local gourmet food trucks and food bloggers to combat hunger in our communities.

About Second Harvest Food Bank Orange County
Since 1983, Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County has provided more than 265 million pounds of safe and nutritious surplus food to now over 450 charitable non-profit organizations throughout Orange County. The Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County is a certified Affiliate Member of Feeding America. For more information about Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County or to learn how to help, visit
www.feedoc.org
***