On March 19, hundreds of cars drove through 22 locations around the county donating thousands of pounds of food to help the San Diego Food Bank feed those struggling in the community to keep food on their tables.

This is a bi-annual event organized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Our Father’s Grace Ministries, and the Boy Scouts of America San Diego-Imperial Council. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had 88 congregations participating from all over San Diego. The Church also delivered 38,046 lbs. of food from its Humanitarian Dept. in Utah directly to the San Diego Food Bank in conjunction with this food drive.

The scouts spent the first part of March gathering food and then were scattered all over the county helping at many drive-thru locations.

Community partners included: Carlton Hills Lutheran Church, the La Mesa Police Dept., the Poway Unified School District, the Chula Vista Elementary School District, Solatube Home Daylight, and Ideal Plumbing Heating, Air & Electrical. 22 parking lots were set up with tables, red barrels, pallet boxes, pick-up trucks, and volunteers.

Drive-thru locations were in Allied Gardens, Bonita, Carlsbad, Carmel Valley, Clairemont, Chula Vista, Del Mar, El Cajon, El Centro, Imperial Beach, La Costa, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Mira Mesa, Santee, Poway, Ramona, Rancho Penasquitos, and Vista.

Volunteers used the JustServe.org website to find the 22 drive-thru locations which also provided a link to participate in the food drive virtually.

The event yielded 111,305 lbs. This equals 92,754 meals that will be used to feed hungry families here in San Diego County. The Santee Food Bank received 200 lbs. on the day of the event.

This was a very productive community collaboration, which created some wonderful and long-lasting partnerships.