This was only possible thanks to donations from the community which enabled the Food Bank to purchase food to meet the exponential increase in need .
“ Prior to the start of the pandemic , the Food Bank was feeding , on average , nearly 350,000 people every month – about 11 % of the county ’ s population . The majority of the Food Bank ’ s pre-pandemic service population consisted of workingpoor families living paycheck to paycheck and fixed-income seniors struggling to get by on Social Security . Now , due to the lasting impacts of the pandemic on low-income families , the Food Bank continues to feed record numbers of people in communities throughout San Diego County including families who only started accessing the Food Bank ’ s services for the first time during the pandemic ,” Casey Castillo , Interim CEO of the San Diego Food Bank shared with GB Magazine . “ We are expecting to see a sustained high level of demand for food assistance for the foreseeable future since it will take a considerable amount of time for families to get back on their feet .”
The Food Bank supplies food to San Diego County ’ s charitable food network through a hub and spoke model where 500 nonprofits receive food from the San Diego Food Bank ’ s 90,000-square-foot warehouse in Miramar and the North County Food Bank ’ s 40,000-square foot warehouse in Vista . The Food Banks ’ member nonprofits include food pantries , soup kitchens , shelters , low-income day care centers and senior centers . Currently , the Food Bank supplies food for more than 200 scheduled food distributions every month throughout the County .
While the Food Bank continues to serve record numbers of people , the nonprofit is asking the community to continue to support its mission by donating online , hosting a virtual food drive , or by volunteering at its Vista and Miramar warehouse locations . For more information visit www . SanDiegoFoodBank . org or www . NorthCountyFoodBank . org .
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