New partner agency makes 17 total sites that serve military and veteran communities

San Diego CA— Feeding San Diego, the county’s leading food rescue and hunger relief organization, has partnered with STEP to meet the need for healthy, nutritious food for military and veterans. Starting this month, Feeding San Diego will supply STEP with enough food to serve 350 households at two sites in San Diego twice a month, one in Miramar and one in Oceanside. The partnership is part of the organization’s Feeding Heroes initiative, which reaches every corner of the county – on or near base, in military housing areas, and in public schools serving a high percentage of military families.

“San Diego is home to thousands of active duty and retired service members, with many families and veterans in need of our help,” said Dan Shea, CEO of Feeding San Diego. “Our Feeding Heroes initiative is a critical part of our mission at Feeding San Diego. We are actively working on growing our agency partnerships to help get more food out into the community. “
Feeding San Diego is committed to serving all members of the community, including children, families, college students, families of active-duty military members, and veterans. Its Feeding Heroes program ensures that food is distributed across the county to families of active-duty military members and veterans in need. STEP works with military families in lower pay grades that are experiencing financial crisis.
“We’re really excited about this partnership with Feeding San Diego and being able to bring these items to military and veteran families,” said Tracy A. Owens, Programs Manager at STEP. “We help provide so that they don’t have to make a decision between putting diapers on the baby or paying the electricity bill.”
STEP is a nonprofit that helps build financial self-sufficiency among junior active duty enlisted members and recently discharged enlisted veterans and their families. Previously, the organization focused on distributing different essential items like diapers, clothing and shoes. However, when the pandemic hit last March, they began receiving calls from commands letting them know that there was a need for food. The organization got to work to provide for their clients. To meet the continued need almost a year later, they are partnering with Feeding San Diego to get fresh food on the table via Warehouse on Wheels (WOW) distributions.
For additional assistance, those affected by the pandemic, or people in need can easily find the closest food distribution by visiting feedingsandiego.org/get-help and entering their zip code in the “Find Food Map.”
To help people facing hunger during the pandemic, San Diegans can give online to enable Feeding San Diego to continue its critical work during this time.