One of the summer meal sites is the Armed Services YMCA , where families can pick up prepared meals . One of those families is led by mom Monica , who picks up meals for her twin toddlers while her husband is deployed . She shared that the support has been vital in her life . “ It literally brought me to tears ,” she says . “ I don ’ t have to worry about their lunches during working hours and it gives me time to actually play with my daughters instead of cooking their lunch . My husband doesn ’ t have to worry about leaving us behind because you all are helping our family out .”
In addition to the summer meal programming , Feeding San Diego holds hundreds of other food distributions throughout the county to provide food assistance to neighbors in need , including its large-scale food distributions open to anyone in need called the Together Tour .
“ The COVID-19 pandemic has created many challenges for youth to adapt to remote learning and the isolation that came along with it . For youth who were already struggling with hunger , it has been an overall tough time ,” Dan Shea , CEO of Feeding San Diego shared with GB Magazine . “ We are doing our part to help families during the summer months when they need more sustenance at home . Year over year we see that this support greatly alleviates hunger for kids in San Diego County .”
This summer , Feeding San Diego is supporting youth and families in need with two specific food assistance programs , the Summer Food Service Program ( SFSP ) and School Pantry Program . There are 46 sites across the county , providing on average 23,700 meals every week . Feeding San Diego is providing meals to children and their families through 25 summer meal program sites located at recreation centers , apartment complexes , YMCA locations , and other nonprofits serving youth . Feeding San Diego also operates an additional 21 school pantry sites to serve low-income students and their families .
To learn more about Feeding San Diego ’ s summer programming , donate , or volunteer , visit www . feedingsandiego . org / fuel-for-summer . Generous support for the Fuel for Summer campaign includes presenting sponsor Ford Motor Company Fund and San Diego County Ford Dealers , as well as Telos Capital Management , Wells Fargo , Tracon Pharma , California Bank & Trust , and the Padres Foundation .
JULY 2021 | GBSAN . COM 49