Tucked inside the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank’s warehouses in Miramar and Vista are Food Centers — bustling hubs of activity where logistics meet compassion. Here, our trusted network of agency partners, including food pantries, senior centers, shelters, and soup kitchens, hand-select the items they need to serve their communities. From fresh produce and bread to shelf-stable staples and frozen proteins, the Food Center offers budget-stretching resources, serving as a bridge between the Food Bank and those on the front lines of hunger relief.
Efficiency With a Personal Touch
Open by appointment Monday through Friday, the Food Center runs with well-oiled efficiency. In Miramar, the Food Center can accommodate five agencies per hour, meaning up to 35 partners can access food on any given day. And yet, despite the systemized schedule and clear procedures, the experience is anything but impersonal. Staff know many agency representatives by name — and often by the vehicle they drive or the food items they prefer.
Carlos, Food Center Supervisor who will celebrate 14 years at the Food Bank next month, describes the Food Center as the connection between the Food Bank and the community. But it’s a symbiotic one. “Partners rely on us to offer a wide variety of nutritious food, and we rely on them to distribute it to those in need,” he shares. “These relationships make it possible for the Food Bank to reach 400,000 San Diegans every month.”
Minimal Cost, Maximum Impact
In addition to a personal touch, the Food Center offers the flexibility of choice, especially through food collected from community food drives. Every nonperishable item donated in one of our iconic red barrels is carefully inspected for safety and quality by volunteers, then made available on the Food Center floor. For agencies looking to fill dietary gaps or offer convenient, on-the-go items, food drive donations add variety that isn’t always available in bulk. Think kid-friendly favorites like meat sticks, instant oatmeal packets, and fruit pouches and mealtime staples like salad dressings, condiments, and cooking products. Partners can pick up smaller quantities to test what resonates most with the people they serve and return for more based on feedback. It’s nimble, dignified, and responsive.
It’s also efficient. The San Diego Food Bank provides many items such as bread and produce for free. Other items, like shelf-stable goods, protein, and repacked grains, are available for a nominal “shared maintenance fee,” a common practice in food banking. Prior to the pandemic, this fee was 19 cents per pound, but the Food Bank reduced it to 10 cents for donated items during COVID — and has maintained that rate to this day. Purchased items remain at 19 cents per pound.
That small fee stretches nonprofit budgets exponentially. For example, a case of 30 dozen eggs might cost an agency just $4.50, and a case of black beans just $1.30. These costs make it possible for partner organizations, often operating with limited resources, to serve more people with better variety and nutrition.
Grassroots Partnerships in Action
One of those longstanding agencies is New Life Spring Valley. A partner of the Food Bank’s since 2007, New Life Spring Valley is a faith-based organization that hosts a monthly food distribution and delivers weekly to seniors in the region.
Henri has led their outreach ministry for more than two decades, but she was first called to hunger-relief work forty-odd years ago. After a powerful encounter with a senior named Mother Jackson, who was living on a fixed income and surviving on little more than toast, an egg, and coffee each day, Henri knew she wanted to do something to help. “It really bothered me,” Henri reflects. “I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to start doing this.’”
Today, Henri and her husband Al pick up food from the Food Center every Thursday. They deliver to more than 30 seniors each week, many in their 80s or 90s, who cannot drive or leave their homes. It’s a grassroots approach to food assistance that is deeply local and built on trust.
“We make sure they get food,” she shares. “If somebody really needs something, they can call the church office, and they can let the pastor know, and he’ll get in touch with me. That’s how we’ve always set it up.”
New Life Spring Valley focuses on more than just food, supporting young mothers with clothes and collecting backpacks for school-aged children. But the Food Center remains their cornerstone. “I don’t go anywhere else,” Henri explains. “The Food Bank has been a blessing to people. So many people.”
The connection between the Food Center and partners like New Life Spring Valley is mutual. Food Center staff listen carefully to agency feedback, take note of high-demand items, and adjust inventory when possible. This constant communication allows the Food Bank to better serve each community — urban and rural, large and small — with intention and care.
From seniors who receive a box of groceries at their doorstep to volunteers who feel empowered to serve their neighbors because they know where to turn for support, people are at the heart of the San Diego Food Bank’s work. And it’s all made possible thanks to our community’s everyday acts of support and generosity.
“Anytime you see the red containers and want to donate, please let it reach your heart,” Henri urges. “Help the Food Bank be stocked up at all times because they really do reach a lot of people.”
The Food Center is where that reach begins. And through partners like New Life Spring Valley, that food travels across San Diego County to church parking lots, apartment hallways, and kitchen tables.
Henri sums it up best: “If you want to get very good treatment and good food, just reach out to the San Diego Food Bank.”