Community Heroes series: Love, La Jolla food drive collecting goods through November

It’s time for the La Jolla Light’s annual Community Heroes series for the holiday period, highlighting people who aren’t often in the news but make a difference in the lives of others. If you know of such a person, email Editor Rob Vardon at robert.vardon@lajollalight.com. Please limit suggestions to people who live or work in La Jolla or otherwise have strong ties to the community. 

A group of community activists, spurred by the recent federal government shutdown, launched a food drive for people in need ahead of the winter holidays.

The Love, La Jolla Community Food Drive brings together La Jolla Meals on Wheels and several local businesses to collect non-perishable food items that will be distributed to Feeding San Diego.

Participants are invited to drop off food through Sunday, Nov. 30, at The Flower Pot Cafe and Bakery, Smallgoods Cheese Shop and Cafe, Ashen Salon, Bird Rock Coffee Roasters and Ocean Breeze car wash.

An estimated 47,000 furloughed employees in San Diego County were impacted by the federal shutdown, which  ended this week after 43 days. Additionally, almost 400,000 people countywide participate in the CalFresh program — the California arm of the national, federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP — which provides low-income households with monthly benefits to buy food.

The government shutdown, coupled with the coming holidays, created additional need, according to local advocates.

So Molly Bowman Styles, a board member for La Jolla Meals on Wheels, came up with the community food drive.

“Knowing that people in our community are struggling, especially with the shutdown, I wanted to see how La Jolla Meals on Wheels could expand its mission and reach,” Bowman Styles said. “The shutdown magnified that many people are reliant on food pantries and the kindness of neighbors.”

There is “something heartwarming about a food drive, something that makes me think of childhood and how community is nurtured,” she added.

Bowman Styles reached out to local businesses to be drop-off locations for the food drive, and many were willing to help.

“The need is so great during the holidays … so this could be a campaign that flows into the season of giving,” she said. “We are so honored to live in La Jolla and can be in a position to help others. Hunger is a pressing need, so I hope we can do all we can to help and be creative.”

The initiative comes after La Jolla Meals on Wheels in October delivered its 1 millionth meal since its founding in 1974.

“The intrepid spirit that inspired our 1-million-meal milestone is the same compassionate, can-do spirit that inspires La Jolla Meals on Wheels’ participation in the Love, La Jolla Community Food Drive,” La Jolla Meals on Wheels President Ron Jones said in a statement. “Along with our local business partners, we encourage La Jollans to join us in helping hungry San Diegans put food on their tables.”

La Jolla Meals on Wheels provides meals and visits to homebound senior citizens and disabled people in La Jolla and nearby neighborhoods in University City. The Monday-through-Friday home-delivery service includes two meals daily for lunch and dinner, plus beverages.

“You wouldn’t know it, but there are people in La Jolla that are having challenges month to month,” Jones said. “We have a number of people that we take care of. We have people that are in great need. I go to these visits on location, and they are right here in the main streets of La Jolla. … Many people think it is an abundant community, but there are certainly those that have fallen through the cracks.”

Events like the Love, La Jolla Community Food Drive bring attention to the food insecurity in the area, he said.

“We are a privileged community; it is our privilege to give,” Jones said. “If you can, give back. There are neighbors in need. Be aware of that.”