Community Building

To effectively aid vulnerable community members, there is a need for the different stakeholders in the community to work together. These include social service providers, community organizations, non profit organizations and individuals, to work together.

We collaborate and join forces with both individuals and organizations. Here are some examples of who we work with:

Businesses, both large and small

Churches of all denominations

Policymakers

Social service agencies

Community groups

Thousands of donors

We work across geographical city boundaries to develop partnerships that serve the needs of low income or unhoused individuals.

Sharing food, knowledge, resources and creating innovative collaborations increases the quality and the accessibility of services provided across the city.

We Believe

Social disintegration is as much a result of a disconnect between organizations aimed at helping people as it is between people who find themselves in need of assistance from the larger community.
Organizations can work together to identify barriers to accessing services and create ways to eliminate them or build new service models to provide more responsive service delivery
Discovering ways to remove barriers and obstacles to needed assistance will greatly improve the rate at which people can be served
Effectively helping others requires many unique and diverse approaches and options.
The people we serve provide valuable insight, information and feedback that informs and improves how community stakeholders can effectively assist them.

Our Goals

To address the needs of persons living in poverty and experiencing food insecurity by creating consistent and effective food-centered programs.
To grow our Exchange program to identify and cultivate additional sources of delicious, edible food that would otherwise be thrown away, and share it with a wide variety of partner social service agencies.
To create a restaurant style, dignified, inviting Community Dinner experience that expands the availability of nutritious meals to low income and poor individuals free from the stigma often associated with free meal programs.
To grow and expand the types and variety of services offered during both daytime and evening hours addressing basic emergency needs, clothing housing, health and employment.
To assist our clients beyond their urgent needs to improve their skills and engage their creativity in order to improve personal wellness, dignity, self-sustainability, and connection with their community.
To work with other organizations to create unique and diverse approaches to address poverty eradication, community mental health services, varied housing models, and employment options.
To create a replicable model that integrates food recovery and sharing, consistent meal provision, and personalized social services that address the needs associated with poverty.

Sherry Bonanno

Executive Director

HoFoCo’s first-ever salaried Executive Director, Sherry began volunteering with the Coalition 20 years ago. During her time, Sherry has worn nearly every hat possible with the HoFoCo, from cooking meals to taking clients to doctor appointments to serving multiple terms as Board President. Sherry brings to HoFoCo a profound concern for the welfare of those struggling, along with the tools needed to help make improvements in their lives.

Sherry believes that the strength of the HoFoCo lies in its ability to function as a coalition, where everyone feels welcome and accepted. She envisions HoFoCo as a community hub where agencies and partners can help our clients get support for their immediate needs as well as for their personal growth.

Asher Landau

Director of Development

Asher Landau is Director of Development for Hollywood Food Coalition. He helps guide HoFoCo’s strategy for sustainable growth to meet challenges related to food insecurity, homelessness, and resource inequality. He builds and maintains relationships with a variety of stakeholders, including board members, philanthropic individuals, elected officials, government agencies, foundations, fellow nonprofits and business leaders. Previously, he served as Vice President for HoFoCo’s board of directors and an Associate Director of Development at UCLA.

Patrick Hudnut

Program Coordinator

Patrick Hudnut returned to the Hollywood Food Coalition in his current role as Program Coordinator in August 2020, having been the HoFoCo Summer Intern for the summer of 2019. He wears many hats for the organization and works primarily with the development, marketing, and leadership teams. If you have any questions about the Hollywood Food Coalition, he invites you to reach out to him at . A native of Los Angeles, Patrick is a graduate of Kenyon College, where he studied philosophy and played on the men’s tennis team.

Jill Klein

Administrative Assistant

As HoFoCo’s Administrative Assistant, Jill focuses on volunteer coordination and office management, including reminding volunteers that it’s their day to help, thanking donors for their generous donations, picking up mail, maintaining stats (meals, clients, donations, etc.), and coordinating projects. Jill began with HoFoCo as a Food Runner and has been with the organization ever since. With a background in theater and the performing arts, copy editing, teaching and tutoring, Jill has done it all – you name it, she’s done it. She could also be found, before the pandemic, leading visits at the Getty Villa as an Arts Education Docent.