Thousand Oaks opened a Community Food Recovery Hub on Friday, Oct. 16, at the Park Oaks Campus to collect and distribute surplus food to local families.
The facility, a partnership between the city, nonprofit Adelante Comunidad Conejo and CalRecycle, the state's recycling agency, provides a centralized location for storing and distributing food recovered from local businesses, according to a city news release.
The Thousand Oaks City Council voted 5-0 on March 10 to award $325,000 in CalRecycle grant funds to Adelante to build and operate the hub, The Acorn reported in March.
Mayor Mikey Taylor said in the city's announcement that the hub supports local families by recovering edible food that would otherwise go to waste.
The hub sits at 1335 Calle Bouganvilla on the Conejo Valley Unified School District campus, alongside Bridges Charter School and Adelante's offices. Adelante operates the facility, collecting excess food from grocery stores, restaurants, hotels and other commercial providers and channeling it to pantries and distribution sites across the city.
An electric van purchased through the CalRecycle grant picks up food donations and delivers recovered food to distribution sites, cutting transportation emissions and fuel costs, the city said.
The hub advances Thousand Oaks' compliance with California's Senate Bill 1383, a 2016 law that took effect in 2022. SB 1383 requires jurisdictions to establish edible food recovery programs and targets a 20% increase in edible food recovery by 2025, according to The Acorn's March reporting.
Betsy Connelly of Adelante said in the city's announcement that the hub helps food recovery organizations "rescue and distribute more food to households who are struggling to make ends meet in a time of rising costs."
Adelante began as a networking organization for the Latino community before expanding into food distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, after several local pantries shut down, The Acorn reported. The nonprofit was named 2026 California Nonprofit of the Year by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, according to Adelante's website.
Grant funds cover refrigerated trailers, food storage equipment and transport vehicles. Adelante received $150,000 upfront, with remaining funds paid after the city verified equipment purchases, The Acorn reported.
Stores and restaurants work with nonprofits coordinated by Food Share of Ventura County and the Careit app to post available donations and notify recovery organizations, according to city records.
Adelante's next Community Free Marketplace is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24, at Conejo Academy Elementary School, 280 N. Conejo School Rd. in Thousand Oaks. Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m., with food distribution starting at 9:30 a.m. No pre-registration or proof of income is required.
