By Rachel Lee Taylor | Development Manager
Since our last update, Feeding San Diego completed a successful holiday season and launched our efforts for hunger relief in the new calendar year. During the holidays, San Diego community members helped us raise the funds to provide 4,181,526 meals during the sixth annual Month of a Million Meals campaign held in partnership with ABC 10News and Live Well San Diego.
From November 18 to December 31, 2018, the Month of a Million Meals campaign brought the community together to solve hunger through generous donations of funds, time, food, and voice. One in eight people, including one in six children, struggle with hunger in San Diego County and our efforts to provide the resources they need remain our priority year round.
Building Disaster Preparedness Capacity
Donations from GlobalGiving and our local stakeholders continue to build our capacity to respond to disaster scenarios in our area. Recent grants from GlobalGiving and the California Department of Social Services are helping us raise the funds to purchase a modified tractor-trailer, which will dramatically expand our ability to collect and deliver food and resources to our area. This tractor-trailer will help Feeding San Diego travel farther, collect more food, and distribute it — especially in hard-to-reach rural areas of our community.
Government Shutdown Emergency Services
From December 22, 2018 – January 25, 2019, America faced the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Across the nation, 800,000 federal workers were put on furlough or made to work without pay. Families felt the impact of the shutdown as wages were withheld and bills piled up.
While the shutdown persisted, Feeding San Diego continued to help families in our county make ends meet — including a special emergency food distribution to support Coast Guard service members, the only branch of the military that was included in the pay freeze. On January 23, we invited members of the Coast Guard and their families to take home fresh produce and a variety of groceries to help them get through this difficult time. Nearly 500 individuals took part in the distribution, with 6.5 tons of food going to help stock the pantries of those affected by the shutdown.
All of Feeding San Diego’s distributions helped local families through this difficult time and we saw an outpouring of community support for affected individuals, as our generous donors contributed in honor of military friends, family members, and in the spirit of appreciation for our federal worker’s sacrifices.
Thank you for being a part of Feeding San Diego’s mission to create a healthy and hunger-free San Diego.
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