Local residents’ email inboxes are typically filled with invitations to dinners, galas and other special events benefiting charitable efforts. To make it to these events, numerous costs are put down, such as table reservations, dresses or suits, transportation and babysitters for local parents. While these events are productive in their own right, one Santa Monica organization felt it would be hypocritical to wine and dine while fighting against food insecurity.
To maintain its mission, the Westside Food Bank did away with the gala setting decades ago, freeing up fundraising to go towards its annual Phantom Dinner tradition. Now in its 28th year, the Phantom Dinner gathers supporters to give toward food that reaches local food insecure residents via 38 food pantries, including five direct-service mobile pantries operated by Westside staff. For 2024, a pool of anonymous donors have pledged that every dollar donated through April 30 will be matched up to $100,000.
Each dollar raised turns into four nutritious meals from Westside, meaning that with the match program, the dollar is equal to eight meals for struggling families and individuals in West Los Angeles County.
Westside Food Bank President and CEO Genevieve Riutort said that while this has been a challenging time for food insecurity, with 30% of Los Angeles County residents experiencing the struggle, the organization has been in "growth mode" by providing nearly twice as much food as just a few years ago.
"We really thrive on community support," Riutort stated. "Private funding is our biggest source of funding, we don’t get a lot of government funding, but we’re trying to do more."
The Phantom Dinner follows the 2023 holidays Million Meals Match campaign which raised over $150,000 through over 800 donors, including matching donations made by the Johnny Carson Foundation. In the past, Westside would have a gala event, but the organization thought their energy would be better spent telling donors to stay home.
"We just realized it’s a lot of work to put together a big gala, and given what our mission is, which is providing food to people that literally don’t have enough to eat, it just didn’t feel right to have a big event where we’re wining and dining people who want to give money to us," Riutort said. "So the idea was, let’s just make this really efficient, let’s invite people to stay home. Here in LA, there’s so many events, people are kind of grateful [to stay home] … I’ve gotten notes [that say] it’s so nice to know that my whole donation is going to the cause and not to pay for this meal at a hotel."
The annual fundraiser has evolved over the decades with various themes, such as a Hawaiian theme with a donor contributing a trip to the islands, as well as sharing cultural stories from around the world that echo the Phantom Dinner mission. In recent years, however, Westside has turned its attention to the people that receive its food contributions.
"We really wanted to put those people front and center and recognize that we’re doing this because we’re helping people, and we’ve been so lucky that in the last few years … [we’ve] expanded our service into doing some direct work where we go out in the community with our vehicle and distribute food directly," Riutort said. "It’s given us a chance to meet some of the people who receive our food, and they’ve been so kind and thoughtful in sending us photographs of … the delicious meal [made] with the nutritious food [from the] food pantry."
Riutort added that the event stands out because they ask people to think about the purpose of their giving instead of focusing on a gala-type event. She said that the purpose of the organization is more important than ever because of the heightened Los Angeles food insecurity, brought on by the loss of COVID-19 pandemic economic support.
"If we can cover the food part of it and provide really good, fresh, nutritious food for free, that frees up [money] every month that struggling households can use to stay housed, pay their rent or pay for their utilities or their other basic needs," she added. "So a lot of what we do is actually preventing more people from falling into homelessness."
For more information on Westside Food Bank and to donate to Phantom Dinner, visit wsfb.org
