January 29, 2018
Mountain Shadows Exceptional Kids & Outreach Services Team up to Feed the Hungry
By Sheryl Wilde
“I know what it’s like to be hungry. I know what it’s like to envy your neighbor’s cat food.” ~Robert R.
One in six people in San Diego County don’t have enough food to eat.
Does this statistic startle you? It did us.
And it made us think about this quote:
“Sometimes I want to ask God why He allows poverty, famine, and injustice in the world when He could do something about it… But I am afraid He might just ask me the same question.” ~unknown
So, we decided to do something about it ourselves.
Then we learned that, of San Diego County’s 3.3 million residents, 494,439 people face hunger every day. And of this number, 164,137 are children.* Those are staggering numbers.
“Why should there be hunger and privation in any land, in any city, at any table, when man has the resources and the scientific know-how to provide all mankind with the basic necessities of life?”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
And those numbers made us wonder – well, that’s hundreds of thousands of people who are hungry – and we, the folks at Mountain Shadows Exceptional Kids and Mountain Shadows Outreach Services, are only a few. What resources do we have? What know-how can we provide? Then it came to us:
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”
~Mother Teresa
We knew we could do that – and were pretty sure we could feed more than just one! So the 35 children at Mountain Shadows Exceptional Kids and the clients at Mountain Shadows Outreach Services decided to do a holiday food drive.
“The food drive ran from October 30th to November 17th,” says Heide Fields, Mountain Shadows Exceptional Kids, Director. “We made a classroom competition out of it and the class with the most items donated won an ice cream party.
“The EK parents are very competitive and the food drive was a hit! Our EK children brought the donated items to Outreach – five big boxes in all.
“The kids made two trips to Outreach to drop off donations. When they made the first drop-off, the EK children were a little shy around the Outreach clients. But when they returned to make the second drop-off, they walked in waving and greeting everyone like they were old friends.”
“The Outreach clients were so excited about being involved in the food drive,” says Flor Angel, Program Director, Mountain Shadows Outreach Services. “Kenny L., Fernando M., Leor L. and Alan K., volunteered to take the donations to The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank. “They were so happy to give to people in need, so proud to help others.”
The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank and their North County Food Bank chapter comprise the largest hunger-relief organization in San Diego County. Last year, the Food Bank distributed 26 million pounds of food. They provide emergency food to 370 children and families, active duty military, and fixed income seniors living in poverty every month in San Diego County.
“On behalf of the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, but more importantly, those we serve, I want to thank the participants at Mountain Shadows for hosting a holiday food drive!” says James Floros, President/Chief Executive Officer, The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank. “Your commitment to fighting hunger is evident: your food drive brought in a total of 301 pounds of food that will allow the Food Bank to provide 251 meals to those in need. That truly is a wonderful impact!”
“It made my heart so happy to see all the involvement of the Mountain Shadows Exceptional Kids and Outreach clients!” says Heide. “It was truly unbelievable. It will definitely be an annual event!”
“I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies…” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
All of us at Mountain Shadows believe this too – and while we couldn’t feed them all – we did something, and we provided 251 meals to those in need.
And we think that’s truly wonderful too!
“I was embarrassed and ashamed that I had to admit I needed handouts. I go without eating for days at a time, just to make food last.
Going to the food bank means we can all eat. I have been twice now, and they have been a lifeline to us. If we hadn’t had the food parcels, we wouldn’t have eaten. I have now learned not to be embarrassed. They do amazing work.” ~Mother of two children
Thank you to The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank for helping so many San Diego people in need!
* Figures per Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank