Feeding San Diego and Courage to Call increase food planned for distribution tomorrow by 50% to meet rising demand by military families and veterans
FEEDING SAN DIEGO AND COURAGE TO CALL INCREASE FOOD PLANNED FOR DISTRIBUTION TOMORROW BY 50% TO MEET RISING DEMAND BY MILITARY FAMILIES AND VETERANS
SAN DIEGO — (May 15, 2020) — Feeding San Diego and Courage to Call are teaming up this Saturday, May 16 at 11:30 AM, to distribute food to military families across San Diego County. The organizations will provide 600 boxes of food to military households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase from 400 at last month’s distribution. It will be a drive-through, no-touch distribution, similar to the many distributions currently provided by Feeding San Diego across the county.
This distribution is part of Feeding San Diego’s Feeding Heroes initiative, which serves local veterans and active duty military families struggling with hunger. Through partnerships with organizations like Courage to Call, the initiative reaches people in need on or near base without stigma or unnecessary bureaucracy, in military housing areas and in public schools serving a high percentage of military families.
“Feeding San Diego is committed to supporting families of active duty military and veterans when they face hard times,” said Vince Hall, CEO of Feeding San Diego. “Providing military families and veterans with nutritious meals is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful to partner with incredible organizations like Courage to Call.”
San Diego County has the largest concentration of military and veterans in the country. According to the San Diego County Office of Military & Veterans Affairs, the total number of residents in the County of San Diego associated with the military is over 1.2 million, which is 37 percent of the population. This total is expected to grow by 15,000 within the next three years as five additional ships will be homeported in San Diego.
“As a veteran myself, I know firsthand the struggles our service members and their families face,” says RanDee McLain, Program Manager at Courage to Call. Mental Health Systems and the Courage to Call program are dedicated to serving our military affiliated community and food distributions are one way we can continue to give back.”
The drive-through distribution will take place at 8800 Grossmont College Dr. in El Cajon, beginning at 11:30 AM until food runs out.
ABOUT FEEDING SAN DIEGO
Feeding San Diego is a non-profit organization on a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. Established in 2007, Feeding San Diego is the leading hunger-relief and food rescue organization in San Diego County and the only Feeding America affiliate in the region. Feeding San Diego provides more than 26 million meals every year to children, families, seniors, college students, military families, and veterans, and people facing homelessness in partnership with a network of 300 local charities, schools, faith communities, meal sites, and food pantries. To learn more about Feeding San Diego and its COVID-19 response, visit feedingsandiego.org/coronavirus.
ABOUT COURAGE TO CALL
Courage to Call is a veteran-led San Diego County-funded program that serves active duty, veterans, reservists, guardsmen and their families. Our focus is to provide prevention and early intervention services to improve mental wellness. We help find supportive information, access resources and make referrals to services throughout San Diego County. To learn more, visit courage2call.org.
