Feeding San Diego’s Hunger Action Heroes Are Back to Meet the Public at Multiple Events During Comic-Con

The hunger heroes developed by local San Diego youth use pop culture to help raise awareness about the power of ending hunger through food rescue    

Hunger Halter and Demeter, the hunger action heroes that were introduced by Feeding San Diego and Comic-Con Museum last year as part of the Hunger Action Hero Art Contest, are returning to San Diego for this year’s Comic-Con. The public will be able to interact with the heroes on four different occasions starting Friday, July 21:

• A Hunger Action Hero Welcome (Friday, July 21 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) at the San Diego International Airport: The heroes will be welcoming visitors to San Diego who are arriving and ready for Comic-Con. The heroes will be in Terminal 2 arrivals passing out flyers with information about the upcoming events they’re participating in.
• Museum Meet & Greet (Friday, July 21 from 2 to 4 p.m.) at Comic-Con Museum: The Hunger Action Heroes will be at the museum for a meet and greet and photo ops. Food donations are encouraged, and attendees will have an opportunity to get a caricature of themselves as a hunger action hero. Attendees must purchase tickets to the museum to attend.
• Volunteer with the Heroes (Saturday, July 22 from 1 to 3 p.m.) at Feeding San Diego: Join in the fun at a Comic-Con-themed volunteer shift alongside the Hunger Action Heroes to help sort and glean food before it goes out into the community. Costumes are encouraged as are food donations. Attendees will have the opportunity to get a caricature of themselves as a hunger action hero. Attendees must register in advance to attend the volunteer shift: https://feedingsandiego.org/hungeractionheroes/
• Panel at Comic-Con (Sunday, July 23 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.) at the San Diego Convention Center Room 24ABC: Those with Comic-Con badges can attend our panel “Leveraging the Power of Popular Culture to Inspire Change at Scale” featuring the Hunger Action Heroes, plus speakers from Feeding San Diego, Comic-Con Museum, and more.

The Hunger Action Hero Art Contest was a collaboration between Feeding San Diego and Comic-Con Museum to rally local students around Feeding San Diego’s mission to end hunger through food rescue and infuse popular culture into Feeding San Diego’s work to bring awareness to the problem of hunger in San Diego County.

The winning submissions were brought to life by costume designer Allan Lavigne and made their debut at Comic-Con Museum in July of 2022. The costumes have been on display at the Museum since December 2022, and the actors who originally played the heroes last year are returning to San Diego to reprise their roles. Actors Jason Zlatkus and Tatiana Moore will again don the costumes of Hunger Halter and Demeter to create awareness about Feeding San Diego’s hunger-relief services and the power of popular culture to create change at scale.

“The success of last year’s collaboration with Comic-Con Museum was incredibly successful. The art challenge garnered nearly 300 submissions and the winners, high school students Aiden Prior and Sirenna Ascencio, had the chance of a lifetime to see their heroes brought to life and walk through the halls of Comic-Con,” said Dana Williams, Feeding San Diego’s director of marketing and communications and the creator of the challenge. “This year, we want the heroes to interact with the public so more people can get to know them and their incredible stories. This will help further Feeding San Diego’s mission by introducing the concept of food rescue and hunger-relief to new audiences.”

The panel on Sunday at Comic-Con will dive deeper into the Hunger Action Hero Art Contest and the potential for collaborations like this to create long-lasting impact. Courtney Gant, senior director of advancement at Comic-Con Museum, will be on the panel along with Dana Williams, Feeding San Diego’s director of marketing & communications. The two will share the story of the inception of the art challenge and bring in costume designer Allan Lavigne of Bronze Armory Studios to discuss how he brought the two winning entries to life. Rounding out the panel will be Dr. Emily Schindler, director of education at Comic-Con Museum, Dr. Janina Scarlet from Pop Culture Hero Coalition, and pop culture scholar Dr. Michael Dando from St. Cloud State University, who will delve into the transformative potential of popular culture to inspire change at scale.