Park-It Market returned to De Anza College, offering free frozen chicken, fruits and vegetables to students and community members in need. Held in Lot A every second and fourth Tuesday from 1:45 to 3 p.m., its latest event took place on Dec. 9.

Park-It Market is organized by West Valley Community Services, and managed 

by Donald Akimoto. Akimoto is the  Manager of Mobile Operations under WVCS, and has been working in the nonprofit for over 30 years. 

“We mainly get a lot of our produce from places like Second Harvest, Silicon Valley,” Akimoto said. “We also get a lot of donations from grocery stores like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Safeway.”

When students arrive for free groceries, they show their student ID, pick up a grocery bag and fill it with the items they want. 

“Usually, I want to  get some veggies, and sometimes we can get rice, sometimes we can get eggs and milk,” Nana Isegami, 20, business major, said. 

Some attendees said they heard about Part-It-Market from word of mouth or just stumbled upon it.

“We found it while we were walking through this area and we saw this truck and we asked ‘what is this’, ‘what is happening’,” Ivicha Diego, 21, nursing major said. “And then people told us about this event and that’s how we got to know about this thing.”

Donald Akimoto also expressed the need for food supply.

“…Food is always one of those things that everyone needs, you know, it’s a staple that everyone needs to survive,” Akimoto said. “If we can help out the community and specifically students here at De Anza, and save a few dollars, then we’re doing our job.”