Volunteer Spotlight: Flying Samaritans
January 25, 2016
Many organizations out in the community volunteer with the San Diego Food Bank to dedicate their time to really make a difference at our distribution center. This month, we would like to shine the spotlight on the Flying Samaritans. The Flying Samaritans are a nonprofit organization that seeks to bring free healthcare to underrepresented communities in Ensanada, Mexico. The organization brings physicians and dentists to clinics in the region, as well as attending orphanages with healthcare personnel. This wonderful organization does a lot of good for the people of Mexico; nevertheless, they realized they wanted to make a difference in its local community of San Diego.The Flying Samaritan's Lead Coordinator, Yalinda Hernandez, learned of the San Diego Food Bank online. "It was very easy to find the website and all the information necessary to volunteer," said Hernandez.During their volunteer shift, the Flying Samaritans assembled our 30-pounds boxes filled with food products for our Senior Food Program. The Food Bank provides food assistance to tens of thousands of fixed-income seniors every month. A majority of the seniors we serve live at or near the poverty level and struggle every month to put food on the table. The Flying Samaritans assembled 357 of our senior boxes, weighing a total of 10,710 pounds! Wow! What an amazing effort!The seniors we serve have worked all of their lives only to face hunger in retirement. Thanks to the Food Bank and many organizations like the Flying Samaritans who volunteer at the warehouse, the seniors we serve are able to live with dignity in their golden years.
