San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
POWAY’S COMMUNITY FOOD CONNECTION NEEDS MORE VOLUNTEERS
Organization has experienced a rising need for assistance
People seek assistance from The Community Food Connection in Poway for a number of reasons.
Some have lost their jobs, according to Kim Rearick, who started the food pantry with her husband, Bill, in 2012. Others are seniors whose limited incomes are further strained by inflation. Then there are the single parents or the multi-generation families who have combined in a household to make ends meet. Others are homeless, living in their vehicles.
For 40-year Rancho Bernardo resident Caryn Cooper it has been a combination of things — difficulty getting a new position after a career as a dental assistant for an orthodontist and the rising cost of food. To pay her bills, she works various jobs, such as dog walking and distributing f liers for real estate agents.
“It is hard to watch the prices go up,” Cooper said about her trips to the grocery store where she buys only essentials. “This really helps. There is a great variety, with sweets, breads, meat, fruits and vegetables.”
Cooper has been picking up pantry boxes about three times a week for the past two years and shares the contents with her neighbor. Cooper’s boxes are among those filled with food by volunteers and loaded into the long line of cars winding through the Trinity Church parking lot and along Twin Peaks Road during the distribution times.
The demand increased dramatically during the pandemic. Now the food pantry needs more volunteers to keep up with the demand and continue assisting thousands of people in the area, Rearick said.
The program has 140 volunteers but needs at least 10 more. Volunteers pick up food donated by grocery stores daily, sort food at the facility behind Trinity
Church, fill boxes for distribution and place them in vehicles during the three designated pick-up times.
The food bank, which started in 2012 helping about 100 families once a month, now provides as many as 1,200 boxes of food each week to those in need.
“It’s just grown,” said Rearick, of Rancho Peñasquitos. “The pandemic is when it started to get crazy. Before that we were doing 250 boxes per distribution, then we saw it go to 300 to 350. Now we are 400 to 450.”
She attributed the need to two factors — people losing their jobs during the pandemic and the recent inflation.
“It is incredibly high to go out and buy groceries,” Rearick said. “If we can provide all the food they need, their income can be used for rent and utilities.”
Cooper said she is happy with the variety and what is provided.
“(The food) comes from all the major stores and is still good,” Cooper said. “It might not have a long shelf life, but I do what I can to use it up (quickly).”
The food bank received several turkeys recently and Cooper was among those first in line, so she took one home. Cooper said it would provide her with meat for several days.
Poway resident Carlos Leon said he has been coming to the food bank for about a year. He was laid off when his employer reduced the workforce, he said, and he and his wife need the help.
“It’s very good and is a supplement for us,” Leon said about picking up a pantry box once or twice a week.
Starting a food distribution program was the idea of Bob Maddux, Trinity Church’s founding pastor.
“He had a vision, wanted to feed the community here and wanted to do more on a larger scale,” Rearick said.
Maddux approached the Rearicks, who were members of his church, in 2012, asking if they would assist in the project. Initially 10 church members volunteered.
“We had no idea what God had planned,” Rearick said. “It took off at the end of 2019, beginning of 2020. Donations increased due to the pandemic.”
She said the church helps cover expenses such as rent for the building where the food is stored and its utilities. With the pandemic, grants became available for food banks, so they were able to get industrial-style refrigerators and freezers to replace the old household refrigerators they were finding for sale on Craigslist.
When it started, the food was provided by the San Diego Food Bank for those enrolled in the federal government’s Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP).
“(Recipients) would come into the church, sit down and ... volunteers would get what they needed,” Rearick said.
Sometime later, Feeding San Diego designated The Community Food Connection as one of its partners, which made the Poway food bank eligible for grocery store pickups. The stores donate food it has too much of, is near expiration or the packaging is damaged and not able to be sold.
The food can vary from pre-packaged fresh items needing refrigeration such as salads and pre-made sandwiches, to produce, non-perishable boxed and canned foods, frozen items, meat, dairy products, eggs and baked goods. Some items are seasonal, like holiday candy.
Volunteers use their own vehicles to pick up from 25 stores throughout North County, including Vons, Albertsons, Sprouts, Walmart, Aldi, Trader Joe’s and Costco.
“We get thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds per week,” Rearick said.
They receive so much that the program is considering purchasing a couple more sheds for a site expansion.
“We’ve run out of space to store all the food,” Rearick said. “But we also need the volunteers to accommodate it . ... There has been a tremendous growth spurt.”
Sabre Springs resident Jeannie Lowrance has been volunteering for three years. She started just weeks before the pandemic, filling in for a friend who had been volunteering but had to stop due to a broken leg.
“She asked if I wanted to help,” Lowrance said. Then the pandemic began and for six months Lowrance had a lot of free time, so she volunteered three times a week. Now she has cut back to weekly and is the inside lead on Fridays. She oversees up to a half-dozen volunteers filling food boxes.
“I feel it is a good use of my time, I’m nearby and it is helpful to the community,” she said.
Scripps Ranch resident Lakshmi Mullaguru started volunteering last year. She fills food boxes.
“I was looking for a place to volunteer and love coming here,” Mullaguru said. “It is a wonderful place . ... Everyone here is amazing and so nice.”
A team of young adults doing their two-year mission work through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are also among the weekly volunteers. Boden Quiner from Alaska, Alex Christensen and Ellie Strong from Utah, and Mariah Carnagie from Oklahoma help by putting food boxes in vehicles.
“I love the volunteers,” Quiner said. “It’s cool getting to know these people and cool seeing the people who come.”
“I meet so many different people who come through,” Strong said.
Poway resident Lisa Helm said she started volunteering about 18 months ago and is now the board secretary and treasurer.
“I was looking for a way to serve God by serving his people,” Helm said.
Recipients find out about the food bank through various methods. Some call 211 looking for a food bank. Others are enrolled in the federal government’s emergency food program, have heard about The Community Food Connection through other agencies, seen media news coverage or heard about it through word-of-mouth.
There are two food distribution programs. Those in EFAP have to present a card showing they are eligible to receive food through the federal government program at the beginning of each month. This includes milk, meat, other protein sources like peanut butter and items such as canned goods and tortillas. The amount received depends on the number of people in a household.
These recipients and all others needing assistance also receive a pantry box — a box filled with foods donated by stores and members of the community. Each pantry box contains an assortment of items, including fresh food and produce, meat, canned foods, baked items and whatever else is donated. Sometimes dog food, cat food and baby formula are available upon request.
First-time pantry box recipients are provided with a form to fill out and return the next time they come to a distribution. That way they can be included in the system for planning purposes.
Because people do not need to say which days they are coming to pick up a box, Helm said the volunteers estimate how many boxes to prepare. They have almost always made enough.
“We do not turn anybody away,” Helm said. “It is rare for us to run out, but even if running low we give them something.”
Those interested in volunteering at The Community Food Connection need to be at least 16 years old. If doing food pickup they need to be able to lift 40 pounds, use their own vehicle and it needs to be sizable, so a truck, van or SUV. Volunteers can select their shifts.
To sign up as a volunteer email tcfconnection@gmail.com or call 858751-4613.
Food distribution occurs between 3 and 6 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays behind Trinity Church, 14047 Twin Peaks Road, Building C in Poway. Recipients have been known to get in line an hour or so before distribution begins. For details, visit Thecommunityfoodconnection.com.