Elaine is an Asian American student born in Orange County and is interested in improving nonprofits and people’s access to proper healthcare. For six months, she worked within the CalFresh department at Feeding San Diego to help fight food insecurity in San Diego’s neighborhoods.
During her time with Feeding San Diego, she went into the community to answer questions and help people enroll in CalFresh. At the office, she and her team would oversee cases and contact the county to ensure these cases were given approval.
Elaine notes that ever-increasing government restrictions placed on the CalFresh were an issue because these restrictions reduced the amount of people eligible for the program and made it much more difficult to enroll for those who did qualify. Although she herself could not do anything to prevent this, she is hopeful that legislative changes will be made in the near future to help provide more aid to people in need. Elaine mentions that for this reason, her time with Feeding San Diego helped her gain
“a deeper understanding of how important it is to vote.”
During her free time, Elaine would take on volunteering shifts at the food bank where she helped to ensure that food would be distributed to local neighborhoods directly.
Although she is no longer with Feeding San Diego, Elaine has continued to pursue her interest in food insecurity. She enrolled in the course “ANBI 131: Food and Society” which really reinforced how large of a problem food insecurity poses to the community and how it is inextricably tied to human negligence.
Feeding San Diego provides more than 26 million meals every year to children, families, seniors, college students, military families, veterans, people facing homelessness, and other underserved populations. We distribute meals in partnership with 300 local charities, schools, faith communities, meal sites, and food pantries throughout the region.
40 percent of food produced in the United States is wasted, which is more than enough to end hunger. Feeding San Diego rescues high-quality food before it goes to waste from over 530 locations in San Diego County and over 225 farms and packing sheds throughout California. More than 97 percent of the food we provide to the community is rescued. By diverting this food from the landfill, Feeding San Diego significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions leading to climate change, which is comparable to taking 5,000 cars off the road for one year. Visit the Feeding San Diego website to begin volunteering today!
