The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank has honored three non-profit organizations, including the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry, for their outstanding commitment to helping the needy in Los Angeles County.

The SCV Food Pantry was presented the Community Spirit Award, which is given to an agency that demonstrates excellence in community service.

The award was presented Tuesday in Pasadena during the Regional Foodbank’s 19th Annual All Agencies Conference, attended by more than 425 representatives of agencies from across the Southland.

The SCV Food Pantry earned recognition for its innovative approaches to helping local families in need.

“This agency’s creative ideas, such as a milk money program to provide one gallon of milk per child per month, or a mobile food distribution truck for senior food kits, allows them to serve as many clients in their area as possible,” the Regional Foodbank said in an announcement about the awards.

“On behalf of all the agencies and the clients they serve, we’d like to thank this year’s honorees for their commitment to help the Foodbank in its fight against hunger in Los Angeles County,” said Michael Flood, President/CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.

Also honored during the Regional Foodbank’s conference were Steve Baker of the Grace Resource Center in the Antelope Valley, who was recognized for his individual accomplishments in fighting hunger, and Charolette Forrest, who was honored for her dedication to volunteering at The Lord’s Church.

Belinda Crawford, executive director of the SCV Food Pantry, said the Pantry’s leaders and volunteers were elated by the news of the award.

“It’s quite an honor to be recognized by the Los Angeles Foodbank, an affiliate of Feeding America, for our efforts to help those less fortunate in the Santa Clarita Valley,” Crawford said. “We’ve distributed food to our neighbors in need for the past 24 years and could not possibly do this without the countless volunteers who are the hearts and the hands of the SCV Food Pantry.”

The SCV Food Pantry has been distributing food to low-income residents of the Santa Clarita Valley for the past 23 years. The Food Pantry, a volunteer-based non-profit organization, was established in 1986 and moved to its current location on Railroad Avenue in Newhall in 1992. In 2009, the Food Pantry distributed supplemental food to more than 6,500 local residents in need, approximately half of them children. More information about the SCV Food Pantry is available by visiting www.scvfoodpantry.org.

The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization established in 1973 and is one of the largest food banks in the United States.  Through a network of 550 charitable agencies with more than 900 sites, the Foodbank supplies enough food for over 750,000 meals each week in Los Angeles County.  The Foodbank is affiliated with Feeding America.  For more information, visit www.lafoodbank.org.