Nonprofit Mama’s Kitchen brings together local bakers to raise critical funds for organization’s nutrition services to support women, men and children vulnerable
to hunger due to critical illnesses
San Diego CA— The holidays are right around the corner and Mama’s Kitchen is hard at work to once again ring in the season with its highly anticipated Mama’s Pies Thanksgiving Bake Sale. The annual event helps raise critical funds for the nonprofit to provide nutrition services to San Diegans vulnerable to hunger due to HIV, cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and now chronic kidney disease. Mama’s Kitchen is San Diego’s only free, countywide, home-delivered meal program for individuals and families experiencing these critical illnesses. The event will implement new procedures this year, such as drive-through pie pickup, to ensure a healthy holiday season for all.
“Mama’s Pies is a holiday tradition like no other and for an important cause,” says Alberto Cortés, CEO, Mama’s Kitchen. “During these challenging times, when we have seen a significant increase for nutrition services, Mama’s Kitchen’s work is essential to ensure our immunocompromised community members are not risking their health and lives to obtain a meal. We are currently home-delivering more than 12,200 meals a week, all throughout San Diego County. The funds we raise through our Mama’s Pies bake sale will help to provide more medically tailored meals and keep our clients safe, healthy and at home. Each Thanksgiving pie purchase provides 12 meals for a critically ill San Diegan. It makes for a fun and important way to give back through your holiday celebration.”
For three decades, Mama’s Kitchen has prepared and delivered nutritious meals to local individuals in need. The organization started as a volunteer response to the AIDS epidemic, and now delivers three medically-tailored nutritious meals a day, seven days a week and free of charge to local women, men and children in need.
Mama’s Kitchen’s bake sale brings together top pastry chefs to donate 3,000 pies
Mama’s Pies is the largest annual bake sale. Volunteers sell Thanksgiving pies baked and donated by local caterers, restaurants and bakeries. This year’s bake sale brings back beloved bakers, including Behind the Scenes Catering & Events, Sugar and Scribe, Twiggs Bakery & Coffeehouse, Wyndham Destinations, Jenny Wenny Cakes and more, as well as new bakers like Southside Biscuits. San Diego’s top pastry chefs, caterers and bakeries will donate their time and talent to bake 3,000 traditional Thanksgiving pies to help Mama’s Kitchen reach its goal of raising $125,000 during the six-week sales period to fund 50,000 meals to benefit the organization’s clients. Each pie sold allows Mama’s Kitchen to cook, prepare and deliver 12 nutritious meals to our neighbors battling critical illnesses. For those who would like to participate in Mama’s Pies Thanksgiving Bake Sale outside of purchasing a pie for themselves, please consider donating critical funds directly to Mama’s Kitchen or buying a $30 Holiday Feast that will provide 12 meals to a client in need.
All proceeds from pie sales directly fund Mama’s Kitchen’s services and programs. The event is made possible with the generous support of sponsors including Nordstrom, Shamrock Foods, Sycuan Casino Resort, Behind the Scenes Catering & Events, Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine.
Tips for purchasing and picking up your pies
Online pie sales begin Oct. 12 and continue through Nov. 21, 2020. Pie flavors include pumpkin, traditional apple, pecan and Dutch apple, and are available for just $30 each. Buyers may select one of the 11 drive-through public pickup sites when placing their orders and can pick up their pies on Nov. 25.
To date, 12 bakers have joined this great event – see full list below. Additional pie bakers are needed to help with the effort. Those interested in participating should contact Silvia Dominguez at silvia@mamaskitchen.org.
BTS Catering and Events
Wyndham Destinations
Twiggs Bakery
NINE-TEN Restaurant
Sugar and Scribe
Jenny Wenny Cakes
Sycuan Casino Resort
Kitchens for Good
Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine
Grossmont College Culinary Arts
Mook & Pop’s Culinary Delights
Southside Biscuits
Pie sellers and volunteers needed
Individuals and corporations can also support this event by becoming pie sellers or volunteering. For information on this year’s fundraising efforts or details on how to get involved, visit www.mamaspies.org or call 619-233-6262.
About Mama’s Kitchen
Mama’s Kitchen was established in 1990 by a San Diego caregiver who enlisted volunteers to prepare and deliver free meals to neighbors who were sick with HIV/AIDS and unable to cook for themselves. The organization realized that a reliable home meal delivery service was needed to ensure that these individuals would continue to receive nutritious, life-sustaining food. In 2004, Mama’s Pantry was launched to serve HIV+ San Diegans who are healthy enough to cook but unable to purchase nutritious food due to extremely low income. Since then, the organization has expanded their Home-Delivered Meal Service program to other at-risk populations including those battling cancer (2006), individuals with heart failure and diabetes (2018), and individuals with chronic kidney disease (2020). Beyond medically tailored meals, clients also receive nutritional counseling from registered dietitians. In 2019, the organization delivered its 9 millionth meal.
For 30 years, Mama’s Kitchen has never turned away a client who qualified for its services. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the organization responded to a 65% increase in demand, welcoming more than 900 new critically ill clients, and delivering more than 380,000 meals since March. Mama’s Kitchen will continue to provide emergency response efforts and currently provides home-delivered meals and nutrition education services to over 2,000 women, men, and children in San Diego County annually. Learn more and make a donation at www.mamaskitchen.org. Connect with Mama’s Kitchen on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.