Why Make Food Donations
Many people throughout your city and state are in dire need of food. A lot of hard-working people struggle to put food on the table for their families. Donating food can be considered a form of recycling, as instead of letting these items languish in the back of the pantry or throwing them out carelessly, you can give them to those in need. Food donations are an excellent way to cut down on your own personal waste and are a good way to give the many people that are hungry throughout the world something good to eat.
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Need Is Almost As High As The Worst Of The Pandemic
This is probably the most challenging holiday season that Second Harvest of Silicon Valley has experienced yet, said Leslie Bacho, CEO of the regional food bank.
“The need we’re seeing in the community is reaching close to the level that we saw at the height of the pandemic,” she said.
Since the surge in demand during the pandemic was tied to job losses, it felt temporary, she said. It’s been a different story with inflation, which has pummeled the country for a year now.
“Everyone is really strained,” said Bacho. “Both financially, because our network is being hit hard, and also emotionally, just from being in this emergency-response mode.”
To contend with the rising price of milk – up nearly 15% over the year – the food bank now gives each family a half gallon of it per box. It used to give a full gallon.
“I try to keep going out to our distribution sites just to remind myself why we are doing this work,” said Bacho, who enjoys connecting with volunteers and donors.
“I’ve tried to remind myself of all the joy that’s there as we’re all busily working away.”
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Burning Out Staff Running Out Of Food
Food banks in every region of the country are also dealing with high demand and rising food prices and burnt out staff.
CAPI USA, a Brooklyn Center, Minnesota-based nonprofit originally called the Center for Asian and Pacific Islanders now focused on serving immigrants and refugees, is one of them.
CAPI, which operates a food shelf, is one of the state’s only culturally-specific food providers. They focus on Asian, African and Latinx food groups, said Ekta Prakash, the CEO.
“Those foods are expensive,” said Prakash, who makes it a mission to purchase fresh produce for CAPI clients. “It’s easy to say you can run a food shelf with canned food, but it’s not easy to do.”
CAPI typically spends $50,000 per year for 400 lbs of food, said Prakash. But this year, she said they’ve spent nearly $100,000 for roughly the same amount of food, and they’re struggling to meet rising demand.
“By Thursday, there is no food,” she said.
They’ve had to reduce the hours of their food shelf, closing on Friday through the weekend.
Plus, while people are still donating food, financial giving by individuals and corporations has slowed, said Prakash. They need money to pay the cost of labor.
“Our staff are getting more burned out,” Prakash said.
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San Diego Voters Shift From Republican Party
Good Morning, Im Debbie Cruz.its Monday, November 7th.
We take a look at whats driving the shift away from the Republican Party..More on that next. But first lets do the headlines.
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Tomorrow is election day and theres still time to vote!
You can cast your ballot or drop off you main in ballot at one of the more than 200 vote centers across the county.
Theyre open from 8 until 5 today.
Tomorrow theyll be open from 7 in the morning until 8 at night when the polls close.
If you plan to mail in your ballot, it must be postmarked by tomorrow.
To find the vote center closest to you, go to KPBS-DOT-ORG-SLASH-VOTER-HUB.
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If you feel like the days have seemed shorter lately youre right.
Daylight savings time ended yesterday early in the morning.
You can expect to see roughly 10 hours of daylight each day.
And if youre thinking, I thought we were going to stop doing this youre right
A push to make daylight saving time permanent was passed by the Senate earlier this year, but has been stalled in the House.
Legislative aides say they dont expect Congress to reach an agreement before the end of the year.
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Brace for some stormy weather this week.
The National Weather Service says we can expect rain, colder temperatures and gusty winds through Wednesday.
And in the mountains, its expected to snow.
They also suggest covering your outdoor plants and bringing pets indoors during the chilly weather.
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How Do I Get Started
Whether youre a grocery store, local farmer, or individual food donor thank you for choosing to donate food to Feeding San Diego. Were dedicated to making the process of donating food as smooth as possible. In addition, we work hard to ensure that your donation makes it into the hands of those facing hunger quickly and safely.
Grocery Stores & Food Service Providers
Feeding San Diego partners with a range of businesses to rescue food that would otherwise go to waste. We work with grocery stores, retailers, manufacturers, food distributors, convenience stores, restaurants, caterers, and hotels. With hundreds of thousands of San Diego residents facing hunger, your business can help by donating items you would normally discard.
Ready to get started? Sign up as a food donor on MealConnect.
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How Do I Donate To A Local Food Bank
The donation process will vary from food bank to food bank. To find your local food bank, Villarreal advises visiting FeedingAmerica.org and entering your zip code into the food bank locator. From there, she recommends connecting with that local food bank. Typically, theyâll have a most-needed list of items of things you can donate.
Financial donations are also welcome at most food banks as are volunteers. âVolunteerism is a huge need at all food banks,â Guerra says. âAnd the donation of the dollar goes a long way also. In fact, with the increase of fuel, most food banks need the dollar more than ever to keep food flowing into and across their local service region.â
Other local meal programs such as Meals on Wheels also rely on volunteers to deliver and prepare meals. âFor many recipients, the trusted Meals on Wheels volunteer who shows up every day with a meal and a smile is the only person they see or speak with all day,â says Jenny Young, the vice president of communications for Meals on Wheels America.
And if youâre not in a position to donate food, money, or time, Davis says helping spread the word about available resources for families in need is one of the easiest ways to support. âNo Kid Hungry has a texting line to help,â she says. âFamilies can text âFOODâ or âCOMIDAâ to 304-304 to find community meal sites for their kids.â
Donate To San Diego Food Bank
Help the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank and their North County Food Bank chapter with your donation of nonperishable food items! The Food Banks most needed food items include: canned meats & fish, canned vegetables, canned fruits, jars of peanut butter and dried shelf-stable goods like oatmeal, cereals and pastas. All donations will be delivered to the Food Banks warehouse after the food drive, where the donations will be sorted and then distributed to local individuals and families facing food insecurity throughout the county. For more ways you can help the Food Bank, please visit SanDiegoFoodBank.org.
- All food donations will be accepted during the event.
- If you are donating blood, there will be donation barrels near registration.
- If you are NOT donating blood, drop off areas will be located at the registration tent and will be present throughout the event.
THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT PARTNERS
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Vons Donates 41 Million Pounds Of Food To San Diego Food Bank
Will McHenry, director of food procurement & distribution for the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, sits near an internal window overlooking the organizations vast warehouse in central San Diego.
McHenry recollects the genesis of the Food Banks relationship with Vons, part of the Safeway family of supermarkets. We established a formal partnership with Vons in 2007 right before the recession hit, says McHenry. It couldnt have been better timing because Vons has been one of our biggest supporters over the past five years, during a period of severely heightened need in our community.
Since 2007, Vons has donated 3.2 million pounds of food to the Food Bank and collected nearly 900,000 pounds more through in-store food drives. In total, Vons is responsible for donating more than 4.1 million pounds of food to the Food Bank which is currently feeding, on average, more than 350,000 people per month in communities throughout San Diego County.
They donate top quality food which happens to be near the expiration date or is in packaging that has cosmetic damage and cant be sold, continues McHenry. We are very grateful for the partnership. Vons has helped us feed thousands and thousands of people every month.
Cut Down On Waste With Food Donations
What are Food Donations?Food donations are any type of food item that you donate to a local homeless shelter, give to a school or church fundraiser, or give in some other way. Generally, donations of food are usually non-perishable items like canned fruits, canned vegetables, canned pastas, canned soup, boxed dry pastas, boxed macaroni and cheese dinners, and anything else that has a long shelf life and can be heated up easily for quick and tasty meals. These items are often found in many peoples pantries, as they are staples that can come in handy when you need to whip up a low-cost meal quickly.
Read Also: Where Can I Donate Non Perishable Food
Why Should You Donate To Local Food Banks
Millions of vulnerable children are losing the healthy meals they depend on as the closes schools nationwide, Davis said at the beginning of the pandemic. As of , 39 states had closed schools entirely. When you add in the districts closed in other states it means 41.6 million kids, or 4 out of 5 kids, are out of school. Even in areas where the schools were still open, many businesses were closed, which meant hourly workers who may have already been struggling to make ends meet were hit hard.
Fortunately, as of July 2022, the health risks posed by the pandemic have lessened over time. However, Davis notes that the need and the financial impact has not abated. âFamilies still face ongoing challenges due to the strained supply chain, rising food and gas prices, and skyrocketing inflation,â she says. âToday, one in six kids face hunger in the U.S.â
According to a recent Feeding America food bank survey, 80 percent of food banks across the country reported an increase or steady demand for food. Food insecurity exists everywhere, says Zuani Villarreal, the senior director of communication for Feeding America. âIt could be your classmate it could be a co-worker it could be your neighbor a fellow church goer that needs help and I think the awareness of that issue should drive people to help,â she says. For this reason, donating to food banks is more important than ever.
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Nathan’s Famous Provides $5000 Donation To San Diego Food Bank With Help From Professional Twitch Streamers
Brands
National Hot Dog Brand Takes its Nathan’s Duos Program from Virtual to In-Person at Local Community Event to Raise Awareness About Food Insecurity in the San Diego Area
SMITHFIELD, Va., Dec. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — In 2020, Nathan’s Famous launched its Twitch gaming program, Nathan’s Duos, to match gamers to play side-by-side and create genuine moments of connection through livestreaming events. In its continued efforts to bring people together, the program transformed from online livestreams to a three-part series of in-person events to give back locally this fall.
The series concluded earlier today in San Diego, where Nathan’s Famous and JoshOG met with fellow streamer n0thing to recognize the largest hunger-relief organization in the county, The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, with a $5,000 donation and a contribution of over 500 Nathan’s hot dogs. San Diego County currently has more than 1 million people who are facing nutrition insecurity and are unable to provide three nutritious meals a day for themselves or their household.
Today’s contributions will supply more than 10,000 meals to the food bank and help support the organization in its mission to provide nutritious food to people in need, advocate for the hungry, and educate the public about hunger-related issues.
To learn more about Nathan’s Famous, visit www.nathansfranks.com.
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Groups Of 5 Or More Volunteers
Volunteering is a great team-building activity. We welcome businesses, organizations, community groups and more to volunteer at our warehouse in Miramar.
For groups of 5 or more, please fill out our Group Volunteer Request Form below and a Food Bank staff member will help coordinate. Due to the high volume of requests, please allow at least 72 hours to receive a reply.
Combating Food Insecurity In San Diego
Did you know that an estimated 1 in 7 San Diegans doesnt know where the next meal will come from? That means that 443,000 men, women and children living in San Diego experience food insecurity. Even more, nearly 200,000 people in our city are on the cusp of food insecurity.
The San Diego Rescue Mission created the Partners for Hunger Relief Program to combat food insecurity in our city. Our refrigerated trucks allow us to safely collect millions of pounds of nutritious food each year food that would otherwise be thrown away. Over 100 grocery stores, restaurants, caterers, universities, hotels and hospitals contribute to this effort.
The San Diego Rescue Mission, in partnership with the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, provides food items at no cost to nearly 50 nonprofit organizations who operate hunger relief programs within San Diego County. Each of these partners have been accepted to the Food Banks Food to Nonprofits Program. Food is distributed each week in a central location, allowing accessibility to many organizations across central and southern San Diego. This mutually beneficial relationship allows food to move quickly and efficiently from the Food Banks warehouse into the hands of the community.
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Is I Love To Glean A Non Profit
I Love to Glean is a non-profit corporation formed for the purpose of partnering with others to facilitate countywide food recovery systems that increase the capacity for recovery and distribution of otherwise wasted food to agencies serving those in need. We work directly with feeding agencies and kitchens who then distribute to end clients.
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An Evening At The Ballpark Fundraising Event
Together, we really can make a difference in the lives of children and families who have been impacted by abuse. Through the support of the Southern Nevada community and the Las Vegas Aviators baseball organization, the CACF hosted its An Evening in the Ballpark event to not only raise awareness around the issue of child abuse and neglect, but to also raise funds in support of the victims and families they serve.
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San Diego Humane Society
Through our Community Pet Pantry, anyone can visit our campus locations in El Cajon, Escondido, Oceanside and San Diego between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, to pick up a bag of dog or cat food as well as other supplies as available.
No appointment is needed for this service.
See the website for distribution schedule.
619-299-7012
Sign Up For A Tour Of The Food Bank
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Salvation Army Donation Drop Off / 5196 Governor Drive San Diego Ca
This location is easily overlooked I think since its set back from the street and super close to the 805 freeway. Its one of those park and ride lots that are few and far between now.
Ive been dropping off my various donations here over the years. They take most items and give you a receipt if you ask for one. They are always super nice and helpful getting all my boxs out of the car.
While driving into the lot I noticed a plaque with a dedication name for the 805 freeway. It was dedicated in 1981 to Jake Dekema. He served California as the Director of Transportation for 25 years.
If your curious like me, here is a link to more information about Mr. Dekema.