Neighbors Helping Neighbors Community Food Drive Raises More Than 50,000 Pounds of Food for Local Families

The Neighbors Helping Neighbors Community Food Drive has supported the mission of the San Diego Food Bank and our North County Food Bank chapter since 2015. The semi-annual food drive is hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and partners with dedicated local community organizations and businesses to collect shelf-stable food donations for our neighbors in need. Thanks to our generous supporters, the food drive has grown to over 15 drive-thru and walk-in locations spanning from Carlsbad to El Cajon to Imperial Beach.

The results are in! Thanks to our generous community, the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Food Drive collected more than 56,000 pounds of food, or more than 47,000 meals for our neighbors experiencing food insecurity. Donations included shelf-stable food items such as canned meats, canned fruits and vegetables, peanut butter and dry goods as well as home essentials.

Donated shelf-stable food items ready to be distributed by our network of nonprofit partners.

Special thank you to Robin Gephart, Regional Communication Council Member at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for her leadership and commitment to the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Community Food Drive.

"Service is good for us. Service is good for the one who's serving and for the recipients," shares Gephart.

To aid in the collection efforts of the food drive, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints delivered more than 36,000 pounds of nutritious food including canned fruits and vegetables, canned soup, applesauce, beef stew, peanut butter and home essentials such as laundry detergent and dish soap. This delivery was possible thanks to a grant Gephart generously applied for on behalf of the Food Bank.

Casey Castillo, CEO of the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank stated, "The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank and our North County Food Bank chapter extend our deepest gratitude to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for hosting the annual Neighbors Helping Neighbors Community Food Drive. All of the nonperishable food items and essential goods were distributed to our neighbors in need through our network of over 500 nonprofit partners. We're looking forward to stocking our shelves through the next Neighbors Helping Neighbors Community Food Drive happening this August.

"The donated food and resources from this community food drive are especially important right now as the San Diego Food Bank and our North County Food Bank chapter expect an increase in families relying on our services due to the end of CalFresh Emergency Allotments.

"One of the reasons that we've kept this going is because there's such a great need," Gephart explains.The San Diego Food Bank and our North County Food Bank chapter feed 400,000 people each month, which includes low-income families, seniors living on fixed incomes, low-income military families, children living in poverty and the unsheltered.Our hunger-relief efforts would not be possible without the support of community partners like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and our generous donors. Thank you for helping the San Diego Food Bank fight hunger in the San Diego community.

If you are in need of food assistance, visit our website and use our GPS Food Locator Map to find a food distribution or pantry near you simply by typing in your address and or zip code. https://sandiegofoodbank.org/gethelp/