Community Food Connection’s food distribution program in Poway is going strong, but some of its equipment is showing signs of aging and monthly expenses are becoming more difficult to cover, officials said.
This nonprofit public benefit corporation has been feeding local residents for the past 15 years. Food items including meat, dairy, bread and canned goods are distributed every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3-6pm behind Trinity Church San Diego, 14047 Twin Peaks Road, Building C.
Bob Maddux, founding pastor of Trinity Church and co-founder of Community Food Connection with Rancho Penasquitos residents Kim and Bill Rearick, said food distribution programs have begun asking area residents for financial support.
“We are looking for grants and doing different fundraisers, like meet-ups,” Maddux said. “We are also working with local community service organizations to raise funds.”
Community Food Connection, a nonprofit separate from Trinity Church, says it distributes up to 90,000 pounds of free food to more than 4,200 families each month.
Maddux said an average of 350 cars pass through the church’s parking lot during each distribution, with some days seeing more than 400.
But such a popular program also has financial implications. Maddux said the ramp with multiple access areas used to lift food carts up and down during distributions is showing its age. Repairing or replacing the 15-year-old ramp would cost about $15,000, he said.
“When you’re moving carts up and down with literally thousands of pounds of food every day, it’s all-consuming,” he said.
Approximately 90,000 pounds of food are distributed free of charge each month, impacting the increase in food distribution.
(Courtesy of Bob Maddux)
Additional funds are needed to purchase more food, which is being raised through a partnership with the San Diego Food Bank and Feeding San Diego. Monthly expenses have increased, and on top of that, both Trinity Church and Community Food Connection are receiving bids to repair the church’s parking lot.
Maddux, who was handing out coffee and lemonade, said some people had been waiting in line since noon to make it in time for the distribution to begin at 3 p.m.
“I ask them, ‘Does this help you?’ and they say, ‘Of course, we can’t do without it,'” he says. “We have a lot of people on fixed incomes.”
For more information or to donate, visit The Community Food Connection’s website at thecommunityfoodconnection.com/.
