Michael Flood, photographed by the Los Angeles Times in El Segundo on September 8.
About a month into the spring of 2020, when COVID-19 put much of the state on lockdown, Debbie Deck, who runs a community food pantry, decided to Remain open for business. But most of her volunteers went home, and the pantry quickly ran out of food.
At the same time, demand at her food pantry has increased more than fivefold—from 2,500 to 14,000 people a month. Families come from as far away as Ventura and southern Orange County to visit the West Valley Food Pantry in Woodland Hills.
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Desperate, she called Michael Flood, the longtime director of the Los Angeles Area Food Bank. Flood himself is trying to feed twice as many people as he did before the pandemic.
“Michael, I’m in trouble. I need help,” Dirk told him.
She explained to him that early in the COVID-19 pandemic, community grocery stores that normally donated to food pantries were no longer able to provide essential items due to a lack of staple foods. Additionally, many of her volunteers are afraid to leave their homes.
“Hang in there,” Vlad told her. “I will get back to you as soon as possible.”
Soon after receiving the call, Dirk began fielding calls from people wanting to help. The Smart & Final Charitable Foundation pulled up with an 18-wheeler filled with food. Amazon Fresh donated thousands of pounds of meat and produce after the company had to postpone its grand opening because of the pandemic. Staff from a nearby hospital volunteered to help Dirk set up a drive-thru food distribution service.
“We were able to stay open during COVID-19 really because of Michael’s connections,” Decker said.
Flood, 61, has led the food bank for more than 20 years, leveraging his deep relationships with private donors and local, state and national government officials to step up services for the growing number of people in need of food during the pandemic.
His relationships with Los Angeles County officials have enabled the food bank to host large-scale food distribution events at large venues such as the Hollywood Bowl. Flood said that while the intense early days of the pandemic have passed, demand for food remains high. Food inflation and the impending end of the pandemic-era program are just some of the reasons so many people in the county need help.
Currently, Flood and his team work with a network of more than 600 partner agencies, including soup kitchens, homeless shelters and senior programs, to feed approximately 900,000 people each month.
“The demand is still there,” he said.
