Smart & Final Launches 10th Annual KFI PastaThon

Smart & Final today launched its annual campaign to raise money for pasta-related items for the 10th annual KFI PastaThon, a fundraising event organized by KFI AM 640 for Caterina’s Club. Having served more than 5 million meals to date, Caterina’s Club provides warm meals, affordable housing assistance and hospitality job training for homeless youth and low-income families throughout Southern California.

To participate in the food fundraiser, shoppers at any Smart & Final or Smart & Final Extra! store can make a donation at the register during checkout. Now until Dec. 4, for every $10 donated, Smart & Final and Barilla will provide pasta, sauce, forks, bowls and to-go containers to Caterina’s Club. Each $10 donation provides 14 meals to kids in need.

“Thanks to Smart & Final and their customers, Caterina’s Club was able to feed an extra one million meals during the first five months of the coronavirus pandemic here in Southern California. Giving us the ability to serve not only children but also their families who lost their jobs. On behalf of all the people we have served and continue to serve, thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” Caterina’s Club founder and owner of the Anaheim White House restaurant, Chef Bruno Serato said.

This year, the 10th annual KFI PastaThon has been expanded from a one-day in-person event to a week of live virtual events taking place Dec. 1 to Dec. 4. Additionally, ongoing drive-thru donations will be accepted at Chef Bruno Serato’s Anaheim White House restaurant. From November 18 to Dec. 4, excluding Thanksgiving, Caterina’s Club will be joined by KFI AM 640, Barilla Pasta and Smart & Final volunteers in accepting donations at the restaurant located at 887 S. Anaheim Blvd, Anaheim, CA 92805.

In 2019, Smart & Final supported the KFI PastaThon with a record total of $85,000 in product and donations. This included 5,500 $10 bag donations received in Smart & Final stores, plus an additional $30,000 comprised of in-store cash donations and a check from the Smart & Final Charitable Foundation. In total, the ninth annual KFI PastaThon, supported by Smart & Final and Barilla Pasta, raised a new record of more than $435,000 in cash and 109,000 pounds of pasta to benefit Caterina’s Club.

“2020 may have brought a lot of challenges, but it has also shown us a whole new level of generosity, with record fundraising in all of our in-store charitable efforts this year,” said Deb Bell-Versluis, Director, Corporate Communications & Charitable Foundation, Smart & Final. “Hunger relief is a top priority for the Smart & Final Charitable Foundation, and we are honored to continue supporting Caterina’s Club to keep warm meals available to kids in need, even if through curbside pickup these days.”

The Smart & Final Charitable Foundation aids nonprofit organizations with a focus on hunger relief, health and wellness, team sports and youth development, education and disaster relief. In 2019, the Charitable Foundation raised $1.8 million to support nearly 3,000 causes with the help of Smart & Final customers and store associates.