Longtime Mobile Pantry in Beloved San Diego Mountain Town Continues to Make a Big Difference
“It is a bit cold up here in the morning,” Diane Hake, the site lead of the Julian mobile pantry, said in her email. “You may want to bring a jacket and gloves. When the wind comes up, it is chilling.”
Diane was preparing our team for the chilly October temperatures in Julian, the beloved San Diego County mountain town. She has been the site lead for Feeding San Diego’s mobile pantry program in Julian for the past ten years. After meeting her, it was clear that her warning about the cold weather was just one example of the type of kindness she has been spreading for the past decade through her volunteer work.
Photo by Stacy Keck
Beyond Apple Pie
The Feeding San Diego team visited the mobile pantry last October to meet the volunteers who have been keeping the operation going for such an impressive length of time, as well as some of the people who benefit from the pantry.
“Usually, when you hear the word Julian, all you think of is apple pie,” shares Gary Darnell, a volunteer we met at the pantry. “We’ve got a lot of seniors up here in the back areas, and they just can’t get out sometimes. The roads are impassable during the winters. Diane delivers to a lot of what we call ‘lock-in people.’”
Photo by Stacy Keck
Community Care at the Julian Mobile Pantry
Feeding San Diego’s Mobile Pantry Program helps address rural hunger by providing nutritious, healthy food to seniors and families in the rural North and East parts of San Diego County. Distributions are consistently in the same locations in the community (in this case, at the Julian Public Library) and have routine distribution schedules.
“That’s why we do it, because we have a lot of people up here who need the assistance. There aren’t a lot of grocery stores nearby, and they’re expensive, especially for seniors on fixed incomes.”
“The people that I particularly myself take care of are disabled senior citizens, and they depend on our volunteers to take food to them,” Diane shared. “That’s why we do it, because we have a lot of people up here who need the assistance. There aren’t a lot of grocery stores nearby, and they’re expensive, especially for seniors on fixed incomes.”
Photo by Stacy Keck
Hunger Lives in the Backcountry
According to Feeding America, people who live in rural areas often face hunger at higher rates than those in urban areas. Living in a rural community comes with unique challenges. This includes a lack of transportation when the nearest grocery store, food pantry, or food bank is potentially hours away, job opportunities more concentrated in low-wage industries, and higher unemployment rates and underemployment.
“When the pandemic first started, we had so many people we had to do traffic control out on the highway,” Gary told us. “We do this in the snow and rain, wind blowing at 80 miles an hour. We’re out here to help these people.” The Julian mobile pantry continues to be a beacon of hope year-round for those living in the picturesque mountain town.
“It’s important to us to have this partnership to keep our community secure, and safe and sound,” Diane says. “We thank Feeding San Diego for the service it provides.”
