Feeding San Diego Awarded $100,000 Grant From The Vertex Foundation to Support its School and Mobile Pantry Programs

The grant funds will help the non-profit continue its vital work providing nutritious meals to the more than 100,000 children experiencing food insecurity in San Diego County     

Feeding San Diego, the county’s leading hunger-relief and food rescue organization, has been awarded a $100,000 grant from The Vertex Foundation. The funds will support the non-profit’s school pantry and mobile pantry programs, helping to break the cycle of food insecurity for youth, families, and seniors in San Diego County by providing nutritious meals at no cost.

The grant supports the longstanding school pantry program, which is Feeding San Diego’s largest hunger-relief program for children. The program alleviates childhood hunger by providing nutritious food to children, youth, and their families at no cost onsite at local schools. This ensures consistent, reliable access to healthy food on a dependable schedule at familiar locations. The School Pantry program operates throughout San Diego County in partnership with 13 school districts. School Pantries operate at Title 1 elementary, middle, and high schools across districts located in US Census Bureau low-moderate income tracks where a high percentage of students come from low-income families and have a high incidence of health risk and low access to food assistance.

Funds will also support the mobile pantry program, which serves predominantly rural areas of San Diego County. The mobile pantry program provides food to underserved neighborhoods at about 16 sites around the county. The pantry operation reaches communities with a significant number of low-income families who lack consistent access to full-service grocery stores or other sources of fresh, healthy food.

“Many of our donors want to focus their support on childhood hunger, and for good reason. Hunger impacts academic achievement, cognitive and physical development, health and well-being, and social and behavioral response in children,” said Ali Colbran, director of development at Feeding San Diego. “We are incredibly grateful that The Vertex Foundation has acknowledged the significance of our programs by awarding us this grant, which will allow us to continue operating programs that directly support families in our community.”

The Vertex Foundation seeks to improve the lives of people with serious diseases and contribute to the communities where Vertex is located through education, innovation, and health. The grants awarded fall within three focus areas: STEAM education, social innovation, and healthy families.

“We seek to improve the lives of people in our communities through education, innovation, and health programs,” says Sabine Hadida, member of the Vertex Foundation Board of Directors.  “We’re giving this grant to Feeding San Diego to support the mobile pantry and the school pantry programs. We hope this will create a positive impact on the families and children in San Diego County and beyond.”

In addition to the school pantry and mobile pantry programs, Feeding San Diego serves kids through other programs including the summer meals program, after school meals program, backpack program, community and agency partner programs, and CalFresh outreach. Each of these unique programs serve children and families throughout San Diego County. For more information on Feeding San Diego’s programs, visit feedingsandiego.org/our-programs.