Christmas decorations, store ads and holiday music piping through overhead speakers before Thanksgiving may seem too early for many people. Big corporations though, realize that to grab consumer attention and to make their numbers before the end of the calendar year, they have to get the word out early and campaign hard. Filling food bank shelves and securing enough for the holiday season requires the same level of aggressiveness. That’s why the month of November is so critical for food banks across the United States.

Here in Ventura County, November represents the kickoff of the Tackle Hunger campaign for FOOD Share. For the second year in a row, the campaign’s premier event is the Can-tree Collection. Businesses and individuals rally to build Christmas trees out of canned goods. The trees are displayed during a weekend festival at The Collection at RiverPark.

It takes between 600-800 cans of food to create a healthy looking tree. Through food drives, monetary donation and tree sponsorship, over 100 decorated can-trees find their way to the streets of the shopping plaza for people to enjoy. All of the cans are donated to FOOD Share after the festival for disbursement through their 162 partners to nearly 75,000 hungry individuals. Unfortunately though, there are close to 102,000 people in need, and nearly 1 in 5 of them are children. With those kinds of numbers, we need your help to close the gap.

This year Everybody’s Hungry is partnering with both Barrelhouse 101 and The Ventura Meat Company to collect cans for two trees. That’s up to 1600 cans! With your help, we can meet that goal. Both businesses will act as drop off locations for your can donation. Deliver 10 cans or more and receive a token of appreciation from the respective business.