OUR STORY

Santa Clarita, CA is the hometown and upbringing of Jess Guidroz, the founder of The New Way. He spent ten years as a teacher at La Mesa Jr. High School in the William S. Hart School District. With more than half of the student body receiving free or reduced lunch, La Mesa has the largest number of homeless pupils in the whole district. Seeing firsthand the need, Jess made the decision to start The New Way in order to assist his students and their families in getting back on their feet.

Veg Fest SCV, a sister organization of The New Way, served as a resource hub for the local homeless community. By encouraging its more than 3,000 attendees to contribute food, clothing, and toiletries during our yearly event, The Veg Fest has organized one of the biggest food and clothing drives in Santa Clarita.

Last year’s inaugural Eat. Drink. Local. had roughly 5,000 attendees and we were able to assist one family in need. With your attendance at this year’s festival, we are hoping to help two or three!