Feeding Patients is a new program providing free food to those in need across San Diego County
SAN DIEGO (May,2021) – In partnership with the San Diego Padres and Curebound, Feeding San Diego is announcing an important program that provides free food assistance to patients facing cancer in San Diego County. Previously known as Groceries4Good, this new program, called Feeding Patients, provides a drive-through food pick up at different locations for patients and their families.
Feeding San Diego will use its vast connections to source and distribute food to help this high-risk population and pick back up on the work started by Groceries 4Good. Because its food distributions are contactless and drive-through, patients and their families can feel safe when receiving the food.
“Recognizing that the need to provide groceries to our cancer fighting community is much larger than originally imagined, we look forward to the continuation and growth of the Groceries4Good program as Feeding Patients,” said Dan Shea, CEO of Feeding San Diego. “Feeding San Diego serves people in need all over the county, from students to seniors, and we are honored to be able to provide help to those who are battling for their health.”
Groceries4Good started in June 2020 to address health risks and financial hardships for patients caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program was founded and ran by Padres Pedal the Cause, the Padres Volunteer Team, Susan G. Komen, and Albertsons/Vons Foundation. It supported patients facing cancer who were being treated at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health and Rady Children’s Hospital by purchasing and delivering groceries to patients in need. Groceries4Good allowed a high-risk population of patients an opportunity to remain safe at home to recover from treatment, while ultimately bridging many financial hardships, helping them to regain some semblance of stability. At its close, Groceries4Good purchased and delivered over 1,400 grocery bundles to cancer patients in need across San Diego from Escondido to Jamul.
“We are humbled and proud to have had the opportunity to serve so many inspirational cancer fighters and their families in need over the past year,” said Anne Marbarger, Executive Director of Padres Pedal the Cause. “We are so grateful to Feeding San Diego and the San Diego Padres for leading the expansion of this program so we can collectively serve any cancer fighter in San Diego who needs assistance getting nutrients needed to overcome the disease.”
About Feeding San Diego — Feeding San Diego is a non-profit organization on a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. Established in 2007, Feeding San Diego is the leading hunger-relief and food rescue organization in San Diego County and the only Feeding America affiliate in the region. Feeding San Diego provides more than 32 million meals every year to children, families, seniors, college students, military families, and veterans in partnership with a network of 320 local charities, schools, faith communities, meal sites, and food pantries. Last year, more than 92 percent of the food provided to the community was rescued. By diverting more than 27 million pounds of food from the landfill, Feeding San Diego reduced greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 25,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent, which is comparable to taking 5,300 cars off the road for one year. To learn more about Feeding San Diego and its COVID-19 response, visit feedingsandiego.org.
About the San Diego Padres Foundation —The Padres Foundation is the primary source of funding for the club’s outreach initiatives in the areas of Live, Learn, Play, Serve or children’s health, education, fitness, and youth baseball/softball. The Foundation raises funds through a number of programs in which fans can participate, including the 50/50 Raffle, Shirts Off Their Backs, Padres Foundation Garage Sale and many others. For more information on the Padres Foundation, including how you can get involved, visit www.padres.com/community.
About Curebound —Curebound is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, born out of Padres Pedal the Cause, dedicated to mobilizing the San Diego community to catalyze cures for cancer. As a hub of innovation with a hotbed of philanthropic leaders and entrepreneurial talent, San Diego is thriving with potential and poised to translate local discovery into global transformation. With community collaborations and strategic investment, San Diego will become a global leader in cancer research and treatments and a destination for care. To accelerate that goal, Curebound will build on the foundation established by Padres Pedal the Cause in donating over $13 million to collaborative cancer research since 2013 and will invest $100 million+ in research and innovations by 2030. Learn more at info.curebound.org.
