Church of Scientology Ventura and Local Love Project Reach Out With Help

With food insecurity a troubling fact of life for many Ventura County families, the Church of Scientology held the first of a series of Saturday food giveaways.

Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology teamed up with the Local Love Project disaster response nonprofit for the first of a series of Saturday food giveaways at the Church. They are holding this weekly activity to help Ventura County families experiencing food insecurity.

“Our Volunteer Ministers are here to help, and we want to ensure every family has the essentials they need,” says Bobbi Grantham, public relations director of the Church of Scientology Ventura. “That’s why we have organized a weekly pick-up station by the Church, where families can come by and select what they need.”

The first food giveaway took place Saturday, March 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., right off Highway 101 in Ventura in the parking lot of the Scientology Church at 2151 Alessandro Dr.  

Volunteers organized the supplies and handed out bags of groceries and hygiene and cleaning products to cars as they drove through. 

Many, already living on the edge, have suffered from the effect of the pandemic on local businesses. And recent rains have been very hard on Ventura County farmworkers and their families. As Michael Méndez, assistant professor of environmental planning and policy at UC Irvine, told the L.A. Times in January, farmworkers are especially vulnerable to extreme climate events. Recent flooding has taken its toll.

Ventura Local Love Project works to solve the immediate needs of those impacted by California disasters by providing items necessary to help neighbors as they work to restore their lives. In the heart of the pandemic, volunteers from the Church helped weekly at the nonprofit’s warehouse, packaging produce and staples for those in need.

 The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service founded in the mid-1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard.

The Church of Scientology of Ventura was dedicated in November 2019 by Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige. The Church works with other religions, nonprofits and officials on programs to uplift and benefit the community.