Our efforts in the United States have grown substantially within the past year. Due to the conditions throughout 2020, it was a trying year for most of our Bay Area families, whether dealing with fires or COVID-19, causing over 50 million people to experience food insecurity. In addition, many have lost their jobs or had to cut back on work hours due to shelter in place, unable to provide for their families. Thus, it has been difficult for people to pay the bills and keep food on the table, to the point where 1 in 5 children experience hunger daily. With the need for our support increasing at immense rates, we are thankful to Latter Day Saints Charities for their generous donation. Thankfully, with their help and other supporters, we increased our efforts by providing food, hygiene essentials, educational resources, and much-needed provisions to over 100,000 children and adults across the country.
Specifically, in our latest food delivery, we were able to reach 4,800 children, providing food boxes and hygiene kits. Not only were we able to do this with funds from Latter Day Saints Charities, but also with the help of our amazing volunteers who attended an outdoor-socially distanced event we held to help us assemble the packages.
Essentially, we were able to distribute all the items among 15 different locations in San Francisco County, San Mateo County, Alameda County and Napa County, impacting 1,600 families in total.
With our communities continuously affected with the ongoing effects of COVID-19 we are aware of the increased demand for food and hygiene kits among our centers. Therefore, in 2021, we will continue to impact our communities with the help of our wonderful donors, volunteers, and team members that make what we do possible.
Two of the families we impacted reached out to us expressing their thoughts about our program:
“I can say so much, I don’t know where to begin but your program has been amazing. You feed my family when I have nothing. I could never pay y’all back but be a blessing to someone else, Thanks so much!”
“This program has meant a lot to me and my daughters. I have been unemployed and we’ve been displaced from our home and this program has been a GODsend at times.”
Our work never ends, even in a country that is one of the best economically sustained countries in the entire world. We could not do what we do without your support, and we hope it continues this next year for the sole reason that our impact grows.
With great thanks,
Dee Domingo
United States Program Manager