The Votes Are In!
2023 Readers' Choice is back, bigger and better than ever!
View Winners → 
Pasadena City College Third Annual Million Meals Marathon Nov. 21–22
Education Nov 04, 2015
by
share with
Tribute band L.A.vation (U2). – Courtesy Photo
Free Benefit Concert to Highlight Event
In an effort to combat hunger in local communities, Pasadena City College will be hosting the third annual Million Meals Marathon Food Drive on the campus Nov. 21 to 22.
From 11 a.m. on Saturday to 11 a.m. on Sunday, organizers and volunteers will be on campus collecting donations for non-perishable food items – for both humans and pets.
In conjunction with the Million Meals Marathon Food Drive, a free benefit concert will be held featuring two of the world’s greatest tribute bands: L.A.vation (U2) and DSB (Journey). Two local bands – indie pop group Crystal Twin and Malik The FreQ of reggae band The Lions – are scheduled to open the live performances.
The benefit concert takes place on the main, semi-circle stage in the PCC Quad from 4:45 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21. Food trucks as well as a live DJ will round out the day’s entertainment. Prizes will also be given away to those who donate and come to the benefit concert.
Admission is free, although the suggested donation to attend the benefit concert is a non-perishable food item (and/or pet food).
“What differentiates us from other food drives is that we are also addressing the need for people to feed their pets rather than surrender them to shelters because they can’t afford them,” said Dr. Barbara Freund, primary event organizer and dean of the PCC School of Health Sciences. “We don’t want them to have to decide between feeding their children and neglecting their pets. The idea is to keep families and pets together.”
The items collected will be used to help replenish the food banks of both the Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank distributes food to more than 15 pantries in the Pasadena area.
Freund said the goal is to collect more than 2,000 pounds of non-perishable food. That amount will be enough to stock both food banks for two to three months. Monetary donations will also be accepted in lieu of goods.
According to Freund, $1 donated equates to four meals. “If everyone would give up buying one cup of a specialty coffee or drink and donate that money instead, they would be able to give 20 meals.”
The brainchild of Freund, the Million Meals Marathon stemmed from her participation in the annual Mayflower Marathon Food and Fund Drive in Virginia, where she previously worked.
“For 15 years I was always a donor at the Mayflower Marathon,” said Freund, who joined the PCC family five years ago and has pets of her own – two rescue Dobermans. “When I came here to PCC, there wasn’t a similar food drive in scale like the one I was accustomed to in Virginia. I just thought that PCC was such a community of caring faculty and students that this kind of event would resonate with them.
“When I also learned that people were giving up their pets just so they can afford to eat, it just seemed like a natural addition to have donations for animals,” she added.
The overall goal of the annual event, Freund said, is to one day cumulatively hit one million donated meals. “Once we do that, we’d have to change the name to the Ten Million Meals Marathon,” she said.
The Food Drive will be held in parking Lot 1 at the campus (corner of Hill Ave. and Colorado Blvd.). For more information or to volunteer for the event, call (626) 585-3378 or visit www.pasadena.edu/million-‐meals-‐marathon.
Tribute band DSB (Journey). – Courtesy Photo
