Food drive collects more than 700 pounds of food

C3, Carlsbad Causes for Community, held its fourth annual Village Food Drive from Nov. 1 through 22, collecting 763.5 pounds of food for Got Your Back San Diego.

The Village Food Drive brought together businesses like main sponsor Karlsbad Realty, teenage volunteers from the Carlsbad High School Chapter of Teen Korps and families for a good cause as Got Your Back provides backpacks full of food to kids through the schools.

Eighteen businesses in the Carlsbad Village participated in the food drive by serving as collection points, with colorful collection bins assembled by C3 volunteers. The bins full of food were picked up from the businesses and delivered to C3 by the Vermillion family — parents Becky and Josh and children Brett and Trevor — then the Teen Korps transported the food from C3 to Got Your Back San Diego.

Got Your Back feeds kids in North County who rely on school lunches during the week and need a little help on the weekends. On Fridays, Got Your Back volunteers deliver the backpacks full of food to schools, and a designated school liaison distributes full backpacks to the children in need and collects empty backpacks from the week before.

“We are thankful to be able to work with the community for the community,” C3 founder Deb Ferraro said in a news release. “Thanks to all of our amazing community members who helped out with the C3 Food Drive.”

For more information, visit carlsbadcauses.org, send an email to carlsbadcauses@gmail.com or call 760-893-9251.