Northridge Student Collects Food For Kids In Need

NORTHRIDGE, CA — The 4th of July didn’t have fireworks or barbecues this year, but in Northridge, an event just as an all-American took place: helping others in need. At a time when a cratering economy and unemployment are causing hunger and poverty, Granada Hills High School rising junior Nirvan Rayamajhi and other students helped collect 160 grocery bags of food for kids in need.

“I think we need to find a way to keep going by finding new ways to continue doing good,” said Rayamajhi. “We cannot stop.”

Rayamajhi began helping the community in May, when he raised more than $2000 to pay for meals for health care workers at hospitals throughout the San Fernando Valley. He and his family were able to deliver over 185 meals to frontline workers.

Encouraged by the overwhelming response to his first endeavor, Rayamajhi began looking for new ways to help. He learned that the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission, a Northridge homeless shelter, was partnering with LAUSD to provide meals and support to students in need.

Rayamajhi worked with Sahara Karki, a junior at Santa Monica High School, and his brother Neil, who attends the Alfred B. Nobel Charter Middle School in Northridge, to publicize the drive.

On Saturday, the three students waited outside the Congregational Church of Northridge at Balboa Boulevard, which had offered its parking lot. Within two hours, more than 100 contributors donated more than 150 grocery bags of both fresh and nonperishable food.

The drive was such a success it was able to be distributed to the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission, Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, the Valley Food Bank, and the LAPD Police Athletic League youth group.

The organizers say that they’re planning another drive for hygienic products like soap and toiletries.