Business briefs | Food for People receives help from community

Food for People received a donation of 22 pallets of canned salmon from McKinleyville-based Wild Planet Foods as part of the Letter Carriers Food Drive in May. The truckload of canned fish weighed 30,888 pounds.

“This donation will make a difference to people all over Humboldt County,” Carly Robbins, Food for People’s executive director, said in a statement. “We will be able to use Wild Planet’s donation of high-quality protein throughout our network of pantries and to our child and senior nutrition programs too. We appreciate the support of local companies like Wild Planet who are part of this community and their actions show that.”

Wild Planet was happy to make the donation

“We value our ongoing partnership with Food for People because it directly helps people in Humboldt County, where Wild Planet has been headquartered for two decades,” says Ben Carvalho of Wild Planet in a news release.

This year, Humboldt residents gave more than 39,000 pounds of non-perishable food through the postal service drive. With Wild Planet’s donation, the food drive collected a grand total of 70,000 pounds of food.

Additionally, the North Coast Co-Op pledged to add $3,500 to the Farmers Fund challenge, and encouraged other supporters to contribute, which directly helps Food for People.

“North Coast Co-op is excited to be a part of this fundraising challenge that supports two things we care about highly, getting nutritious food to those who need it the most in our community while supporting our local farmers,” the North Coast Co-Op’s Emily Walter said in a prepared statement.

At the beginning of April, Food for People supporters, Melanie Williams and Barbara Goldberg reacted to the news that the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance program being abruptly cut by pledging $50,000 to match donations made to the food bank’s Locally Delicious Farmers Fund.

“When we learned this vital funding had been cut we felt a sense of urgency. The growing season has begun, we can’t wait, our local farmers need our financial support now to assure local seniors, children and tribal people have healthy food again this season,” the duo said in a statement.

Donations can be made by mail to Food for People at PO Box 4922, Eureka, CA 95502, by giving online at foodforpeople.org or directly at tinyurl.com/Food-for-People-Farmers-Fund.

Eureka DMV set to open June 4

The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced that the Eureka office will reopen at its new location at 2500 6th St., at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

The office at Bayshore Mall closed on May 16 in preparation for the move. The new permanent location is 10,858 square feet compared with 4,832 at the previous space. In addition to the significant increase in interior space, since the new office is not located at the mall, there will be more dedicated parking and increased outdoor space for vehicle inspections.

The DMV urges residents to check services online before going to an office. The DMV has taken many steps to offer additional digital services. Most DMV tasks do not require an office visit, including simple self-service transactions that are no longer available in offices. The DMV encourages customers to use its online services and other service channels to complete transactions, including eligible driver’s license and vehicle registration renewals.

Compass announces scholarship winners

Compass Community Credit Union, a nonprofit member-owned financial institution that serves those who live, work, or worship in Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity counties since 1951, selected three high school seniors to each receive a $1,500 scholarship.

Students were asked to provide several items, including an essay on the topic of “How the nominee has helped to further the ‘people-helping-people philosophy’ that guides Credit Unions.”

Saige Machado, Maia Cavness, and Wesley Way are the recipients for 2025. All three student recipients are from Humboldt County.

“We’re proud to support our local students and we wish them continued academic success,” said Ray Litchfield, president and CEO of Compass, in a prepared statement.

Business briefs are published on a regular basis in the Sunday Business section. Submit news about your local business to [email protected]. Submissions might be edited for space, clarity and Associated Press style.