From the start of the Coronavirus pandemic in mid- March to the end of this month , the San Diego Food Bank and its North County Food Bank chapter have distributed over 52 million pounds of food to individuals and families in need in communities throughout San Diego County . To put that number into perspective , that is the equivalent of 1,733 semitruck loads of food .
Helping those in need
The economic downturn and widespread unemployment caused by COVID-19 , coupled with business and school closures , have combined to create a perfect storm that has caused skyrocketing demand for the Food Bank ’ s hunger-relief services .
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 , the Food Bank is feeding an estimated 600,000 people per month in communities throughout San Diego County due to the pandemic ’ s stranglehold on our local economy .
“ The face of hunger has changed in our community . We are seeing dual-income families forced to get by on one paycheck , middleclass families struggling to get by on unemployment , and vast numbers of people who worked in our tourism and hospitality industries coming to our food distributions for food assistance ,” James Floros , President and CEO of the San Diego Food Bank shared with GB Magazine .
“ The Food Bank typically sees increased demand for our services during the summer when children stop receiving free school meals and over the holiday season . With the impact of the pandemic , we have seen sustained high levels of demand for food assistance every month since the COVID-19
pandemic reached our region , especially from families who have never accessed our services before .”
The Food Bank supplies food to San Diego County ’ s charitable food network through a hub and spoke model . Through this model , 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 .
“ With the arrival of COVID-19 in our region , we quickly pivoted to make our food distributions safe for our clients , staff and volunteers . Now , the majority of our food distribution sites offer contactless drive-thru services and walk-up kiosks . Our clients remain in their vehicles with the windows rolled up , pop open the trunks of their vehicles , and our volunteers place the food directly into the trunk ,” said Floros .
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 or Miramar warehouse locations . For more information visit www . SanDiegoFoodBank . org or www . NorthCountyFoodBank . org .
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