Ten-year-old Cassidy Sterner was volunteering at the Food Bank with his father when he was stunned to hear of 181,000 poor children who are hungry in San Diego County. Cassidy looked at his father and said, “Dad, how can that be? What can we do to help?” Cassidy’s father, Ewell Sterner, is director of food and beverage at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, and he shared his concerns at the following directors’ meeting. Hunger at Home Charity was thus birthed with the mission to address health, nutrition and hunger.   At its inaugural gala, the charity raised $140,000 for two different charities. This year, the Hunger at Home Charity Gala on Nov. 21 expects to bring in $500,000 for six organizations that help the needy: The Monarch School, Feeding America San Diego, 211, Embrace, Network for a Healthy California and the San Diego Rescue Mission. “What we are most proud of is that we are a group of people helping people,” Sterner said. “I’m a single dad with four kids. I don’t know anyone who is safe [from poverty] or who’s not just two paychecks away from those in need.” The Hunger at Home Charity Gala takes place Saturday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, 10950 N. Torrey Pines Road. The gala will feature photographs taken by homeless students that portray a glimpse into their lives in conjunction with the gala’s theme, “Through Their Eyes: A Vision of Those in Need.”      Sterner said the Hunger at Home Charity has banded together with the six other organizations and will continue to meet throughout the year to devise strategies for helping those in need. Ewell and other Hilton chefs have since traveled to 26 low-income schools to teach the benefits of good nutrition and the dangers of obesity. Tickets cost $150 per person or $1,500 per table, and can be purchased at www.hungerathome.com or by calling (858) 450-4521.