Food Pantry Takes its Place as a Chula Vista Institution

By Maureen McNair
​The City of Chula Vista honored the pantry with a public service award during this first full year of operations. Here is what some of our amazing volunteers accomplished during the Covid-19 pandemic. 
The South Bay Food Pantry continues to squat in the three suites that comprise the Chula Vista campus which has been closed to other uses during the pandemic. A team of over 50 volunteers have distributed over 300,000 pounds of free food and over 33,550 free diapers.

We are listed with 211, San Diego County Emergency Services. We belong to both regional food banks — Feeding San Diego and the San Diego Food Bank — as well as the Regional Diaper Bank.  We also partner with a start-up food bank located in Chula Vista, I Love 2 Glean. In addition, we source food from a variety of other sources which Maureen McNair developed since the pantry’s inception. 
In addition, we have provided food to the Deer Park Monastery and hosted  program volunteers from Rady Children’s Hospital reading program and UCSD covid-19 vaccine trials.  

We operate four main programs.
 
Saturdays 
We hold a walk through food distribution for between 125 - 190 households. We regularly provide food for meals for over 500 people each week. We give away meat, poultry, artisan bread, food from Starbucks, shelf stable groceries, sundry refrigerated foods, and a wide variety of fresh produce.
Volunteers deliver meals to four households that are not able to pick up food at our Chula Vista location. 

Sundays 
We give away diapers for babies one hour each Sunday. 
We give food to between 80 - 120 people experiencing homelessness who live on the streets downtown San Diego. 

Anticipated Projects for Next Year 
Continue food and diaper distribution programs. 
Before the South Bay campus reopens for worship services and programs, the food pantry needs to rent a new location within a stone’s throw of our current campus. 
The pantry’s entire operating budget is made up of donations. The poverty in this part of Chula Vista existed well before the pandemic and is likely to continue after it. The key to the pantry’s continued existence is receiving operating funds from inside and outside the church. 
Since volunteers have distributed over 33,550 diapers in only one hour a week, we want to expand the days and hours the diaper distribution is open so the diapers are accessible to more people who need them. 

Lay Leadership
Our food pantry attracts a diverse group of volunteers who are members and friends of FUUSD and has brought in new friends who are members of the wider community.  

Maureen McNair, Founder 
Bella Furth, Food and Diaper Client Record System Creation and Upkeep; Home Food Delivery Coordinator 
Andrea Travers, Food Inventory Record Creation and Upkeep
Dan Ratelle, Calendaring Grocery Bagging Teams 
Everardo Aguilar, Megan Horton, Bilingual Phone Message Center

Food Program Volunteers  
Laura Ball  
Jared Blackwell  
Amelia Bringas 
Leo Casas  
Kay Chandler  
Karen Clay  
Kate Collier 
Mike Collier 
Doug and Alice Diamond 
James and Sarah Ferguson  
Newt Ferris  
Andrew and Liza Ferrier 
Nancy Fisk  
Bella Furth  
Steve Gelb 
Laurie Gerber 
Lizzie Grant 
Jennifer Green  
Dan Heiserman and Kay Phillips 
Bruce Higgins 
John and Peggy Holl 
Steve Howard 
Valerie Jaques 
Paula Johnson 
Scott and Liz Jones 
Anna Kelley 
Heidi Kraus 
Jeff Kline and Nina Douglass 
Armin and Rhea Kuhlman 
Kathe Larick 
Deirdre Lonegrin
Elias Malouf 
Deirdre McDonald 
Andrea, Cali, Gene N-L 
Jude Outwater 
Katrina Peterson and Juliana Humphrey 
David Phillips 
Vanessa Pool and family 
Dan Ratelle 
Lety and Manny Reyes and family 
Darcy Rhodes and family 
Rhiannon Smith 
Ame Stanko and Anne Wolf 
Arvid Straube 
Lauren and Dana Tomlinson

Diaper Distribution Teams 
Rosalba Ciampi and family 
Mindy and Sebastian Hochesang 
John and Peggy Holl 
Armin and Rhea Kuhlman 
Jude and Maren Outwater 

Temperature Recording and Potted Plant Care 
Lynda Gilgun 

Finance Team 
James and Sarah Ferguson 
John and Peggy Holl 
Jeff Kline and Nina Douglas 
Maureen McNair 
Armin and Rhea Kuhlman 
Vanessa Pool 
​
Additional volunteers are being trained during the last 6 weeks of this fiscal year.