MONDAY ESSENTIALS: Fight Against Hunger Doesn't Break for Holidays

Each year, thousands of families suffer through hunger in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

The challenges are particularly difficult during the holiday season, when family celebrations begin to center around the dinner table.

Redlands-Loma Linda Patch reminds readers that the week before Christmas is a great time to donate food to needy local families. Consider a donation of food of funds to Second Harvest Food Bank serving Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Since it opened in 1980, the organization estimates it has distributed some 350 million pounds of emergency food.

“Locally, there are more than 350,000 people experiencing poverty in Riverside and San Bernardino counties,” according to information provided on the Second Harvest website. “Over 500,000 people living in Riverside and San Bernardino counties live in economically disadvantaged households, which means they don’t always have access to the food they require to live a healthy, active lifestyle. Without your help, families must make decisions no one should ever have to make: pay the rent or feed the children; buy needed medication or eat; pay the utilities or buy groceries.”