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Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County (CAPSBC) has been serving over 800,000 low-income residents annually over the last 40 years in San Bernardino County. So it was no surprise that this past week, during their monthly Board of Directors meeting, Wells Fargo Bank and State Farm Insurance both made generous contributions to a much celebrated organization with lots of need.

According to the U.S. Census, with nearly 15% of county residents at or below the poverty line, hundreds of children in our community are left hungry everyday.

What happens to children over the weekend, when school is out, parents are struggling and three meals a day are hard to come by?

The Kidz Fuel Snack Pack Program helps provide backpacks filled with nutritional food to over 350 students per week all over the county. Backpacks are distributed on Fridays for students to take home and have food over the weekend.

For Wells Fargo, it is this need that motivated Vice President Ernesto Arredondo Jr. and his company to make a $10,000 donation to CAPSBC Kidz Fuel Snack Pack Program. “Education is a priority for Wells Fargo and making sure kids have the right nutrition to focus on school work is important,” said Arredondo.

Wells Fargo’s donation will help feed 44 students for 25 weeks and will ensure that children do not have to worry about food over the weekend. Not only is Wells Fargo making a monetary contribution to the program but Jamie Varner Business Deposit Consultant for Wells Fargo will have a tough job ahead of her because she has to coordinate the 50 employees that will be volunteering on June 30th to stuff food in the backpacks that will be distributed to students shortly after.

State Farm Insurance donated $5,000 to CAPSBC’s Individual Development Accounts (IDA) Program which “allows lowincome workers to save earnings and acquire assets as a way out of poverty”.

The program helps individuals and families acquire their dreams of owning a home, starting a small business or obtaining a post secondary education while matching their savings 2:1 for up to $2,000. A family wanting to have enough money for a down payment on a house must commit to saving a minimum of $20 per month for up to two years at which time the family will have as much as $6,000 towards their dream home.

Phill Cothran State Farm Insurance Agent says that making this contribution “provides a great opportunity to partner the company [State Farm Insurance] with the community”. Staff at the Rancho Cucamonga branch have also collected over 500 cans of food to donate to CAPSBC Food Bank program.

Wells Fargo Bank and State Farm Insurance are proving that efforts of the Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County are working, and that private companies and public need can come together to assist those most in need.

For further information on how you can donate or volunteer please contact the Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County at (909) 723-1500 or find them on the web at www.capsbc.org.