DataPhilanthropy gives $8.5 million to Ventura County food bank project

Food Share of Ventura County landed an $8.5 million lead gift from DataPhilanthropy, Jeff T. Green’s family foundation, to support a new $50 million food bank in Oxnard. The facility is designed to double the region’s hunger-relief capacity as demand rises and the current building runs out of space.

Why it matters: - Food Share of Ventura County serves more than 250,000 food-insecure people each year, or nearly one in four county residents. - The new 85,000-square-foot facility is expected to expand how much food Food Share can accept, store and distribute. - Food Share turned away nearly 8 million pounds of food last year because of space limits. - The project aims to improve hunger relief as rising costs and pressure on public assistance programs increase demand.

What happened: - Food Share announced an $8.5 million gift from DataPhilanthropy, Jeff T. Green’s family foundation. - The donation supports Food Share’s $50 million “Feeding Our Future” capital campaign. - The announcement came July 24, 2026, in Oxnard, California. - Jeff Green is founder and CEO of The Trade Desk, headquartered in Ventura, California.

The details: - Monica White, president and CEO of Food Share, called the gift transformational and said $4.5 million remains to be raised. - The new food bank is planned as an 85,000-square-foot facility. - Food Share is the largest nonprofit hunger-relief organization in Ventura County. - Food Share distributes more than 23 million pounds of food, equal to more than 19 million meals, through 200 pantry and program partners each year. - Food Share is a member of Feeding America and California Food Banks. - DataPhilanthropy says its giving is guided by data-driven evidence, learning and impact measurement. - Prior grants from DataPhilanthropy have supported California State University Channel Islands, Mount Sinai, buildOn and The Ruth Cheatham Foundation. - Food Share’s campaign information is available at Food Share’s future project page. - DataPhilanthropy’s website is the foundation’s site.

Between the lines: - The gift ties a local tech leader’s philanthropy to a local hunger issue in Ventura County. - The Trade Desk’s involvement also links the donation to the company’s HEART Giving Day and a volunteer event at Food Share’s Oxnard headquarters. - Dr. Richard Yao, president of DataPhilanthropy, said the new facility could help reduce the tradeoffs families face between food, housing, health care and other basic needs. - The foundation’s approach suggests an emphasis on measurable community impact rather than one-time charitable giving.

What's next: - Food Share still needs to raise $4.5 million to finish the campaign. - The Trade Desk employees will visit Food Share’s Oxnard headquarters for a volunteer day tied to HEART Giving Day. - The new facility is positioned to help Food Share move more fresh and shelf-stable food into the community once completed.

The bottom line: - The $8.5 million gift gives Food Share a major boost toward a new food bank that could sharply expand hunger relief across Ventura County.