The San Diego Padres and their team of incredible volunteers brought hope to local families in need ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. They hosted a drive-thru turkey and food distribution in the Lexus Premier Lot of Petco Park serving 600 low-income families.
Families received frozen turkeys, boxes of fresh produce, which included onions, potatoes, lettuce and apples along with traditional holiday side dishes like stuffing mix, canned green beans, cranberry sauce, and instant potatoes.
This is the Padres’ seventh year hosting a Thanksgiving food distribution in partnership with the Food Bank. With more families needing emergency food assistance this year, their distribution was, as one client described, “an absolute blessing.”
“The holiday season is going to be particularly hard for many families this year. So many people in our community are suffering financially and facing food insecurity due to the pandemic,” said President and CEO of the San Diego Food Bank, James Floros.
Since the pandemic reached the San Diego community in mid-March, the San Diego Food Bank and our North County Food Bank chapter saw a sharp increase in the number of people now facing food insecurity due to job loss throughout the county. With the help of our network of nonprofit partners, the Food Bank went from feeding 350,000 people per month to nearly 600,000.
“This is why we are grateful for community partners like the San Diego Padres who continue to step up to the plate to help families in our community, including those who have been financially impacted by the pandemic.”
Thank you, San Diego Padres, for your steadfast support, especially during this heightened time of need.
The Food Bank hosts 200 food distributions every month, and emergency food assistance is available to those in need in communities throughout the county. If you or someone you know is in need of food to help make ends meet, please visit SanDiegoFoodBank.org/GetHelp or call 2-1-1 for a list of food distributions and food pantries close to home.