Feeding San Diego and Flower Hill Promenade, Growing Kindness and Giving Back to Kids across San Diego County

SAN DIEGO – Not many malls would create a hand-crafted garden structure promoting seasonal herbs and vegetables to benefit a hunger-relief organization…but Flower Hill Promenade is not your run-of-the-mill mall.

Flower Hill Promenade owner Jeffery Essakow and manager Rose Jabin created a literal “Growing Kindness in Sunshine” garden that mall visitors have been nurturing all summer, and are donating the harvested produce to Feeding San Diego to promote healthy nutrition and a hunger-free San Diego. They also hope to raise enough money to provide for 10,000 meals this summer through special family-friendly activities that promote education and goodwill and kindness.

“We hope to have touched thousands of visitors during the course of our campaign,” said Jabin. “We know the visuals will help people stop and think about the blessings they have in their own lives, and what they would want the community to do for them if they ever found themselves struggling with hunger.”

On Saturday, August 11, 2018, the Promenade will host its final event of the summer, a Maker’s Bazaar, with more than two dozen vendors, a petting zoo, face painting, and live music. A feature is Random Crafts of Kindness. Feeding San Diego will have tables set up with cards where families can decorate and write encouraging notes that will be placed in backpacks of San Diego County children facing food insecurity as they get ready to go back to school. In San Diego, one out of every six kids is struggling with hunger.

Feeding San Diego runs programs throughout the year to provide nutritious food and nutrition education and other resources to low-income students and their families at schools across the county. When school is out for the summer, we make sure children who normally get much of their nutrition at school-run breakfast, lunch, and snack programs aren’t left out in the cold by hosting regional school break distributions. We hope to reach—and exceed—one million summer lunch meals this year.

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August 8, 2018