Over 56,000 San Diegans Served Through the Together Tour, Feeding San Diego’s Series of Large-Scale Food Distributions

Feeding San Diego has added an additional location to its Together Tour, a series of large-scale food distributions created to address the ongoing elevated need for food assistance throughout San Diego County. The food rescue organization will host a drive-through food distribution at a seventh site starting next Friday, July 16 at Emmanuel Faith Community Church in Escondido. The Together Tour ensures that San Diegans who continue to struggle can access healthy, nutritious food, with all attendees receiving at least 50 pounds of food, including dry goods, fresh produce, and a frozen meat protein. Since February 2021, Feeding San Diego has set up food distributions across the county from parking lots in Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Fallbrook, San Diego, San Marcos, and Sorrento Valley – where food is needed the most right now.

To date, the Together Tour has served over 56,000 San Diegans facing hunger and is currently operating at six sites around the county. Over 835,550 pounds of nutritious food have been distributed. These large-scale distributions are in addition to the hundreds of regular distributions held each month with partners around the county. Attendance at all Together Tour distributions has remained consistent over the past six months, with each site serving an average of 2,168 people.

“The recovery effort is well underway, but amidst the reopening is still a lot of hardship for those who lost so much during the pandemic and are struggling to get it all back,” said Dan Shea, CEO of Feeding San Diego. “Our food distributions have long been a lifeline to many and we are committed to keeping up with these large-scale events to reach as many people as possible.”

According to the San Diego Hunger Coalition, as of November 2020 over one million people in San Diego County are at risk of experiencing hunger, including over 280,000 children. As the economy continues to recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic, those hit hardest still need assistance. As of mid-April 2021, the region’s unemployment rate was 6.7%, with 102,100 people out of work according to State of California Employment Development Department. Those who relied on Feeding San Diego’s services prior to the pandemic experienced greater setbacks during the past year and a half and remain vulnerable even after the economy has reopened.

Feeding San Diego began its large-scale emergency distributions at the start of the pandemic, in March 2020. In February 2021, starting with a series of distributions specifically for the hospitality industry, the organization committed to ongoing large-scale distributions to provide additional food assistance in cities where the hunger gap is most acute. Feeding San Diego has now hosted 26 large-scale food distributions and will continue them through the end of the year.

Those in need of food assistance can register for upcoming Together Tour distributions here.