Drive-through food collection in Concord replaces postponed KidFest this Saturday

For the 1st time in 31 years there will be no Bay Area KidFest on Memorial Day Weekend in downtown Concord. However, KidFest will help one of its loyal partners for the past 24 years—Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.

From 10 a.m. to noon this Saturday, May 23, there will be Drive-Through Food Collection at the KidFest site, Mt. Diablo High School, 2450 Grant St. Each family donating Saturday will receive a free admission ticket to KidFest 2021.

KidFest producer Jay Bedecarré says Food Bank donation barrels and volunteers will be on both sides of Grant St. to accept food and financial donations Saturday morning during what would have been the opening two hours of the 31st annual KidFest.

Food Bank drive administrator Neil Zarchin said that in the past two months during the coronavirus pandemic “our food distributions are up 40% in terms of the number of people served.”

He added, “We have just completed a forecast that even as people return to work during the next year, we anticipate an overall increase of 25% in terms of pounds of food served. With the postponement of the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive last month, we lost over 200,000 pounds of food donations.”

KidFest attendees have donated over 130,000 pounds of food over the years and the Food Bank needs donations now more than ever.

KidFest, the largest annual event in Concord, has been rescheduled for the Labor Day Weekend, Sept 5-7. Bedecarre says a decision will be made soon if it will be safe and practical to host KidFest then.

Olaf from “Frozen” will be on hand to wave to kids of all ages Saturday.

For more information about Bay Area Kidfest, go to kidfestconcord.com