San Diego Food Bank has partnered with Barons Market with its Fall Food Drive which supports families in need this fall season. Through Nov. 3, the community can visit Barons Market locations and donate at checkout to support individuals and families facing food insecurity.
Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank Casey Castillo said this is the fourth annual Fall Food Drive.
“This effort was led by Barons Market,” he said. “And now in partnership with the San Diego Food Bank, this is an amazing campaign that involves all five Baron’s locations, and their wonderful shoppers, if inclined, can donate at the cash register.”
Castillo said every dollar matters, as the food bank can convert every dollar received into two meals.
“Last year, Baron’s amazing shoppers in this campaign, generated about $20,000 in donations, which accounted for about 40,000 meals. This campaign drive was really created to help us prepare for the holidays. As we come out of October, what we traditionally see is an uptick in need during the holidays. We were ready with those 40,000 meals for the San Diego County community,” he said.
Barons Market Senior Vice President Rachel Shemirani said Barons is a local, family-operated business out of San Diego, so it loves to partner with other local organizations.
“The San Diego Food Bank has been an excellent organization that we like to partner with,” she said. “We literally feed people for a living. That is what we do. For us, it was a natural partnership with the San Diego Food Bank to try and raise funds for a need that seems like it keeps growing. More and more people are needing to use the San Diego Food Bank. And it offers so many opportunities and does so much for the communities with programs that are so important for our members, so we thought there was no better way to help our customers. It started in 2020, which was a time which gave our customers a way to help. That is why it has been so successful. Many people now are struggling, and our customers, if they can, put a dollar or two into their regular weekly shopping. It makes a huge difference and a huge impact.”
Castillo said the Food Bank and its partners feed about 400,000 people a month.
“There are more than that in our county facing food insecurity,” he said. “And that number grows during the holidays. The community understands food insecurity, and I would say especially Barons’ shoppers, and that is why they are so giving during this campaign.”
Barons Market is located at 2015 Birch Road in the Otay Ranch Town Center.
Shemirani said that the Alpine community always comes through.
“Those customers, whenever we do the Fall Food Drive, those customers always turn out,” she said. “They are so grateful for an opportunity to help their neighbors. Alpine is amazing.”
Barons Market is located at 1347 Tavern Road in Alpine.