WHO WE ARE

From us to you

    In 2016 Kaiser Permanente and Community Action Partnership put out a call-to-action for Feeding Agencies in the High Desert to come together and form a Collaboration that would benefit agencies in being a unified entity for food provision to our 12% food insecure population here in the High Desert.

   Victor Valley Rescue Mission was asked to be the lead agency for this endeavor and it quickly became apparent that this collaboration effort was deemed as needed by many feeding agencies.

    A Council was formed and meetings began in October of 2016. Over the next year nearly 30 agencies, from all across the High Desert, signed Memorandums of Understanding and began the partnership with High Desert Second Chance to create the warehouse space where food for the Collaborative would be distributed to the Collaborative. In 2017 the Collaborative was gifted from Community Action Partnership a 20 by 20 walk in refrigeration unit. We were also able to expand deliveries from Community Action Partnership and Food Forward. We began a relationship with Feeding America that resulted in a Fall 2018 first delivery.

    In June 2018, the Victor Valley Rescue Mission had the great privilege of passing the lead baton to High Desert Second Chance. High Desert Second Chance has since expanded its operation to 12,500 square feet of warehouse space and added a third 1400 square foot walk-in refrigeration unit as well a a refrigerated Semi-truck. 

    During this 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, the Collaborative answered the emerging food insecurity crisis by becoming a distributor for the Farmer to Family USDA Food Box. Starting in May, with a delivery of 2500 boxes, outreach has quickly expanded to over 10,000 boxes per week. The Collaborative also extended it's deliveries beyond the partners to assist the Cities of Needles, Barstow, Hinkley and Adelanto as they have done community centered food giveaway events. 

In 2019 the Collaborative partners distributed, collectively, 4.1 million pounds of goods.  

2020  food distribution numbers we over 13 million lbs. In December 2020 the High Desert Food Collaborative Adelanto Hub was formed with 13 Agencies under the leadership of Curbside Ministries - bringing our total agency partnerships to 91. In 2021 we are working with New Hope Village to create the High Desert Food Collaborative Barstow Hub.