Santa Clarita Grocery received a grant from the City of Santa Clarita on Tuesday, along with other local nonprofits in the community.

During their regularly scheduled meeting, the Santa Clarita City Council awarded grants to local nonprofits as part of its 2021 Homeless Innovation Fund Grant recommendations, including Santa Clarita Grocery.

Santa Clarita Grocery was granted $22,298.60 by the City. The same amount was also granted to the non-profits Single Mothers Outreach, Bridge to Home, William S. Hart Education Foundation (WiSH), as well as Salvation Army of Santa Clarita.

A sum close to $15,000 was granted to College of the Canyons Foundation, for a total donation of $126,493 from the City to various organizations.

A portion of the grant will go toward Santa Clarita Grocery obtaining new refrigeration to accommodate for the increased need for the services due to food insecurity caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“In January 2020, we were serving about 160 families a month,” said Bradley Grose, executive director of Santa Clarita Grocery. “For us that was a lot of families… We were giving them a week’s worth of groceries for 4 people.”

After the onset of the pandemic, the nonprofit moved to a drive-up and drive-thru style distribution of food. In a six month span, the families who relied on Santa Clarita Grocery multiplied five times over, according to Grose.

“Today, we are serving 200 people every week… averaging 850 families a month now,” Grose said. “Now that we are in 2021, that grant is a critical lifeline of supply for our current demand. One of our biggest challenges was enough freezer and refrigeration space… For us, this grant is a huge support.”

Santa Clarita Grocery aims to double their fridge and freezer capability with the grant presented by the City.

Each stimulus check given to the public has seen a wane in demand for Santa Clarita Grocery, according to Grose, but he encourages people to continue getting their groceries through the nonprofit and use their stimulus on needed bills, and avoid the cycle of homelessness.

Santa Clarita Grocery is operated by nearly 130 committed and consistent volunteers.

“There is nothing as strong as the heart of a volunteer,” Grose added. “That’s something that defines us. Every volunteer that shows up, serves our community, they see the one-to-one relationship of their time and being a blessing to someone that’s in need… It’s invaluable.”

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