Although the doors to THE RINKS facilities and Great Park Ice have been closed since March 12, that does not mean they have stopped impacting their community in a positive way.

Instead of lacing up skates on new youth and adult players, they have focused on how to help the Southern California community off the ice.

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The Irvine Ice Foundation announced on April 23 that Great Park Ice, one of the largest ice facilities in the nation and also the practice venue for the Anaheim Ducks, had been converted to a temporary food bank food storage facility for Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County.

For the last four months, 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 60,000 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 over hundreds of pallets of food and relief water began with approximately six truckloads of supplies will initially arrive at Great Park Ice and be prepared for staging on Day 1. Since then, many more truckloads kept coming to the facility adding to the piles of food that were being stored on the surface that once use to be Rink 2.

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.

— Anaheim Ducks Staff

(July 23, 2020)