Great Park Ice Converts to Food Bank Storage Facility

Irvine Ice Foundation (IIF) announced today that Great Park Ice, one of the largest ice facilities in the nation and practice venue for the Anaheim Ducks, has converted to a temporary food bank food storage facility for Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County.

For the last five weeks, Second Harvest Food Bank has been at the forefront of the pandemic by serving Orange County families most economically impacted by COVID-19 in a drive-thru food distribution event at Honda Center. Since the first Pop-Up Drive Thru on Mar. 21, Second Harvest has distributed food to more than 21,000 cars and households on Saturday mornings at Honda Center.

"Great Park Ice is a tremendous community partner, and we are so pleased to be working together to serve those in need in Orange County," said Second Harvest Chief Operating Officer Jerry Creekpaum. "We are very fortunate to use this facility as a staging area with it being only five minutes from Second Harvest's Distribution Center."

Load-in for 120 pallets of food and relief water began at 8 a.m. this morning at Great Park Ice in Irvine. Approximately six truckloads of supplies will initially arrive at Great Park Ice and be prepared for staging. Additional deliveries are currently scheduled to arrive at the facility next week. In accordance with the order issued from the Orange County Health Officer, Great Park Ice has remained closed since Mar. 18 and will reopen when deemed safe by health officials.

"Irvine Ice Foundation is proud to partner with Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County as we continue to navigate through this pandemic," said The Rinks Vice President Art Trottier. "There are many layers to the Food Bank's distribution operation, and this was one clear way we could support Second Harvest during this unprecedented time."

About Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County
Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County is leading the fight to end hunger for the ever-increasing number of men, women and children at risk of hunger in our community. Last year, the nonprofit provided enough food for a record 26.5 million meals for those in need of food assistance.. More than 90 cents of every dollar spent goes toward programs to feed the hungry in partnership with our network of community and program partners. Second Harvest is a member of Feeding America, a national hunger relief organization. For more information and to get involved, visit FeedOC.org.

About Great Park Ice
Great Park Ice & FivePoint Arena is one of the nation's largest public ice facilities, located at the Orange County Great Park. The facility is a part of a public-private partnership with the Irvine Ice Foundation. The $100 million, 280,000-square-foot facility has four sheets of ice and serves sports-related activities that include youth and adult hockey programs, regional and national tournaments, figure skating, and public skating hours. FivePoint Arena has space to seat 2,500 spectators. The complex includes administrative offices, dressing rooms, training facilities, retail space, and concession space.