San Diego Food Bank honors donors as community impact grows
The food bank used its volunteer center to turn donor appreciation into an operations lesson, as Casey Castillo thanked partners supporting nearly 53 million pounds of food.
The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank staged its annual Food Donor Recognition Luncheon inside its volunteer center, a setting it calls the heart of daily operations, and used the room to show how a donation becomes food on a shelf. The message was not just gratitude. It was logistics.
Chief executive Casey Castillo told donors, “This day is really about celebrating you.” The luncheon recognized partners behind retail rescue, food drives, virtual campaigns and fresh food donations, with awards going to World Mission Society Church of God, Power Hour, San Diego Self Storage, Carmel Mountain Ranch Library, Hollandia Dairy, Lazy Acres, Northgate Market, Fish & Richardson, North County Transit District, Scripps Ranch High School AFJROTC and Trader Joe’s. For staff members who manage intake, sorting and distribution, that kind of public recognition serves a practical purpose: it reinforces the relationships that keep product moving.
The scale of that system is large. The food bank says it serves about 400,000 people every month across San Diego County and works with more than 450 nonprofit partners. Its volunteer program relies on more than 15,000 people each year to sort, pack and distribute food. In fiscal year 2024-2025, the organization says it distributed 52,058,596 pounds of food and supplies, including 23,658,692 pounds of fresh produce, or 44% of everything it moved. It also says that 2025 produce volume was the largest in its 48-year history.
That matters in a county where the food bank estimates 848,000 residents are nutrition insecure, including 218,000 children and 182,000 older adults. Since 1977, the organization has positioned itself as the region’s largest hunger-relief operation, but the numbers show how dependent that operation is on steady, repeat participation from donors, volunteers and partner agencies. A recognition event in the middle of the work week is not window dressing when the work itself depends on retention.
The food bank’s own recent fundraising and drive results point to the same strategy. Its 14th annual gala raised more than $1.5 million, the most in event history, and a region-wide food drive brought in more than 100,000 pounds of food. For a doorstep program like A Simple Gesture, the lesson is straightforward: appreciation works best when it strengthens the system behind the bags. Showing donors where their food goes can deepen commitment, stabilize supply and make the route from porch pickup to pantry distribution easier to sustain.
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
