Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank

The program objective is to provide increased amounts of fresh produce monthly to extremely marginalized individuals and seniors, many threatened by chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, and obesity. A negotiated arrangement between the California farmers and the California Association of Food Banks enables us to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at just $0.18 per pound. Without this program's produce distributions under the auspices of our Neighborhood Distribution and Senior Food Program, nutrition-related disease and hunger would be at even greater proportions in the county.

Food Bank staff help pre-screen clients for CalFresh benefits (formerly Food Stamps) at Neighborhood Food Distributions, CSFP sites, Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) sites, and elementary schools where 50% or more of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Food Bank staff help eligible clients fill out the application. Then Food Bank staff tracks applications that have been submitted to the County Office of Health and Human Services and advocates on behalf of clients throughout the application process. If benefits are denied, Food Bank staff liaisons between the client and the County and appeals the decision. Food Bank staff attends focus groups regarding CalFresh issues, and the Food Bank hosts workshops for other nonprofits on related topics, such as immigration issues.

Funded by the federal Commodity Supplemental Food Programs (CSFP), the Senior Food Program provides monthly food packages to 14,000 eligible low-income senior citizens aged 60 and over each month. The Food Bank administers the program and distributes USDA-provided food at 40 distribution sites every month throughout San Diego County. Each participant receives fresh produce and staples such as cheese, peanut butter, cereal, canned meats, and fruit juice. The packages do not provide a complete diet but are good sources of nutrients typically lacking in target population diets. Clients of the Senior Food Program may also participate in the Fresh Produce Initiative Program. Distribution sites for the Senior Program include community centers, Head Start schools, churches, senior centers, and adult care centers.

Run in conjunction with the Food Bank's Food to Nonprofits Program, the program "rescues" soon-to-expire fresh and prepared foods from a range of food retailers, including restaurants, caterers, corporate cafeterias, and hotels, and delivers the food to local nonprofits, such as soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and churches that distribute the food immediately to people in need, often the same day. Interested nonprofits must attend a training session, review program guidelines, obtain food handler permits, and sign an agreement supplied by the Food Bank. The procedure includes these steps: 1) A registered food donor informs the Food Bank of an upcoming event where excess food may be available; 2) The Food Bank notifies its registered nonprofit partners about the potential donation; 3) The first nonprofit to respond receives rights to the donation, and the nonprofit's contact information is given to the food donor; 4) The nonprofit provides transportation for collection.

The goal of the College Hunger-Relief Program is to identify best practices of college food pantries, enhance existing college food pantries and campus-based hunger-relief programs, help colleges that would like to establish a food pantry program on campus, and to bring resources to all colleges and universities in San Diego County with food pantries and hunger-relief programs for low-income college students.

Hungry students struggle to concentrate in class and suffer academically. Since a person with a college degree or vocational certificate is less likely to slip into poverty, providing food assistance to low-income students while they are in school can help prevent students from impoverished backgrounds from dropping out of college and falling into the cycle of poverty. That is why community leaders, local colleges, and universities are partnering with the San Diego Food Bank and our North County Food Bank chapter to create safety net programs for low-income students.

The Food Bank started the Diaper Bank Program to help solve an important piece of the poverty puzzle for young parents living in poverty by giving them the hand up they need to work for their families. Diapers are expensive — a month’s supply for one child can cost between $70 and $80, and diapers cannot be purchased with CalFresh benefits or WIC. As a result, parents try to make do without diapers by stretching their supply by leaving babies in dirty diapers longer or by reusing diapers.

Our Diaper Bank Program helps by distributing diapers to families in need through our network of nonprofit partners. The goal is to provide much-needed diapers to low-income parents who reside in San Diego County so they can remain employed, provide for their families, and lift themselves out of poverty.

Period supplies are basic necessities, but 1 in 4 menstruating Americans went without them this year due to a lack of income, and over one-third of low-income women in the U.S. report missing work, school, or similar events due to lack of access to period supplies. Lowered attendance at work and school can lead to lower performance and fewer opportunities, reinforcing the cycle of poverty.

While the Food Bank is the regional expert in feeding people, we want to do more than put food on the table of those facing food insecurity. We want to address the root causes of poverty. Addressing poverty and its root causes means looking at the broad disparities that exist in our community and establishing effective solutions. The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank is committed to ending poverty, and through our Period Products Program, we will work to address this disparity in our region.