Helping the Hungry Fuels Holiday Spirits

Members of HHSA's East and North Central Region management team recently volunteered at Feeding America.

Shortly before the holidays, members of the Health and Human Services Agency’s East and North Central Regional leadership team participated in a day of service at Feeding America San Diego. Together, they cleaned and packed more than 6,200 pounds of carrots, tomatoes, oranges and other fresh produce.

Participating volunteers included East and North Central Regional Director Marie Brown-Mercadel, executive staff, managers from public health nursing, child welfare services, family resource centers, health promotion and health coverage access.  In addition to their annual holiday gathering, the management team was interested in finding a way to give back to the community. Nora Cortez, Health Coverage Access administrator coordinated the volunteer effort.

Every year, there are more than 480,000 people facing hunger in San Diego County and 1 in 5 children don’t have a reliable source of food at home.

Just as Live Well San Diego was initiated to focus on building better health and chronic diseases, Feeding America San Diego integrates nutrition education, advocacy and CalFresh outreach into all initiatives and programs. Volunteers are core to the work they do with a network of 13,000 volunteers who dedicate their time to help feed more than 60,000 children, families and seniors in need every week.  Volunteers may help with a variety of projects, including sorting, cleaning, bagging and boxing food, as well as administrative support.

Feeding America San Diego provides hunger-relief and nutrition programs throughout the region all year long.

You can learn more at www.feedingamericasd.org.