By Jason Islas
Lookout Staff

December 23, 2011 -- This holiday season has been especially difficult for the needy, but Santa Monicans are stepping up to help, according to the largest local social service agencies.

Despite a slumping national economy, donations are helping feed the poor and homeless at the Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) and the Westside Food Bank, two agencies that have worked with the City for decades to feed the hungry, clothe the needy and house the homeless.

“The economy is bad and we're seeing a huge increase in people who need food,” said Barbara Whittenburg, the president of the Westside Food Bank's board of directors.

This year, the Westside Food Bank's third annual pub crawl in Santa Monica took cash donations instead of food after last year's crawl pulled in 4,000 pounds of food.

“This is one of the busiest times of the year for the Westside Food Bank,” Senior Administrative Analyst Natasha Guest told The Lookout.

The Westside Food Bank, which raises four million pounds of food annually, provides food for many Santa Monica programs, including OPCC and the Clare Foundation, which helps individuals struggling with addiction.

The Food Bank also provides food to New Directions, which seeks to help homeless veterans get back on track, and Upward Bound House, whose goal is to get families off the street and back into houses.

OPCC's access center is one of those places where the food collected or bought by the Westside Food Bank goes to help needy families. Every year, OPCC puts on a holiday dinner.

“It's a fun outing for families,” OPCC volunteer Waverly Nebebun said. Not only is it an opportunity to get a warm meal, but also a chance to join in the festive spirit of the holiday season, she said.

The OPCC access center also gives presents to needy families each year, Waverly said. Though participants have to be registered with the center, after 4 p.m., it is open to families who are not registered.

OPCC also collected donations for food gift baskets to give those who were recently homeless but have found housing, Guest said.

OPCC isn't the only place families in need can get food. St. Joseph Center also offers food for needy families, and the Food Bank also distributes to food pantries at the city's churches and temples to help families who are struggling to make ends meet, Whittenburg said.

“This is a time of year when people step up their donations, but it's a year-round problem,” Guest said.

How severe Santa Monica's homeless problem remains will be gauged next month, when the City conducts its annual homeless count exactly one month after Christmas, on January 25. ("Santa Monica Seeks Volunteers for Homeless Count," December 20, 2011.)

“The holidays are over, but we're moving forward with our work,” she said.

Organizations like OPCC and the Westside Food Bank, as well as initiatives like the annual homeless count, require much community participation.

Though the Food Bank gets some of its food from programs like the Farms to Families initiative and USDA Food Feed Fuel program, 85 per cent of the four million pounds of food come from donations.

One of the biggest struggles for the Westside Food Bank is just making sure people know about it, Whittenburg said

“So often people don't know we're here,” she said. “But by donating to us, you're donating to everyone else.”

For more information on how you can help, visit: http://opcc.org, and http://westsidefoodbankca.org, http://smgov.net/homelessness.