Our Programs & Initiatives

Here For All San Diegans Facing Hunger

Feeding San Diego supports children, families, seniors, college students, military families, and veterans in need with a multitude of programs.

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Find Free Food Near You

Find a free food distribution at a convenient location near you or let us help you apply for CalFresh.

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Our Programs

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Agency Partners

Feeding San Diego has a network of non-profits and organizations we work with, including local charities, faith communities, colleges, and healthcare providers that operate food distributions, to provide food throughout San Diego County to all demographics. 

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Backpack Program

The Backpack Program provides local students with an easy-to-carry bag filled with healthy staple items and fresh produce. This program helps keep kids fed over the weekend. 

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Feeding San Diego staff assisting a community member with a CalFresh application

CalFresh

CalFresh is a federally funded nutrition assistance program designed to help families and low-income individuals purchase healthy food. Feeding San Diego’s CalFresh team provides support to community members throughout the application process. 

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Box of fresh produce

Emergency Food Box

The Emergency Food Box program offers nonperishable food kits and produce to individuals and families in need. Community members can request food at Feeding San Diego’s front desk during business hours. Two types of nonperishable food boxes are available: ready-to-eat for those with limited food preparation abilities; and pantry staples for those who can prepare meals.

Feeding San Diego Marketplace, a free food pantry

Feeding San Diego Marketplace

Feeding San Diego is proud to have its very own community marketplace at our headquarters in Sorrento Valley. During specific hours, community members are welcome to come and shop for free food including dry goods, frozen protein, and fresh produce.  

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Smiling senior man accepts food from a volunteer at a Julian Mobile Pantry site

Mobile Pantry

This program helps address hunger by providing nutritious, healthy food to communities in the rural North and East parts of San Diego County, as well as some urban communities. This program supports food deserts and communities without existing agency partner networks.  

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Woman and child stand with bags of produce

Produce Pantry

Located throughout the county, Feeding San Diego’s produce pantries provide fresh fruit and vegetables, in a format similar to a farmers’ market. Each distribution offers a wide variety of produce at no cost to anyone in need. 

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School Pantry

The School Pantry Program helps address child hunger in San Diego County by providing nutritious, healthy food to students and their families, primarily on school campuses or directly adjacent to schools, in high-need communities.  

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Little girl smiles at camera while eating lunch at a Feeding San Diego summer meals site

Summer Meals

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) helps meet children’s needs by providing free and nutritious breakfasts, lunches, and snacks during the summer months. Kids can access these summer meals at sites throughout San Diego County. The SFSP program is federally funded and coordinated by Feeding San Diego.

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Our Initiatives

Woman in military uniform at Feeding San Diego food distribution

Feeding Heroes

In partnership with local nonprofits, Feeding San Diego seeks to serve and support members of our military and veterans when they face hard times.

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Feeding Seniors

Feeding San Diego partners with local nonprofits serving seniors to provide nutritious, healthy food to low-income seniors.

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Feeding Wellness

Feeding San Diego’s healthcare partners link healthcare and food assistance to better support San Diegans in need of resources.

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Food Rescue

Feeding San Diego rescues surplus, edible food before it goes to waste and gets it into the hands of people facing hunger. This includes food from grocery stores, retailers, wholesalers, distributors, farms, and packing sheds. Agency partners are one of the ways we rescue food. They help support our decentralized model by rescuing and distributing food in the community from which it was donated. Over 75 percent of the food we distribute to the community is rescued.