South Bay Community Church in National City is feeding families throughout South County.
Every Wednesday afternoon about 500 people line up in the parking lot at 2400 Euclid Ave. to get a box of food that contains potatoes, celery, bananas, oranges and other food items.
Associate Pastor Edward Dueñas said a box of food contains about $40 worth of food. He said for a family of four that’s about $160.
Dueñas said anyone can receive food from his church whether it’s a family in need or people who are nonspiritual.
He also said there isn’t a catch in accepting food.
“We don’t ask anybody for a penny,” he said. “No catch, no nothing. You don’t have to be a member of the church.”
Since 2012, South Bay Community Church has distributed food and, just last year, Dueñas said the church has served more than 1 million pounds of food.
Every Wednesday Dueñas and a group of volunteers drive a donated semi-truck to the San Diego Food Bank and load about 25,000 pounds of food for distribution, in stark contrast to two years ago when the church loaded one pickup truck a week.
As food is distributed there are two lines where people can stand. One line is for those who just want to receive their box of food and go home.
Another line is for people who want to also attend a church service and receive a sit-down dinner.
“I try to meet your spiritual need but I’m going to meet your physical need as well,” Dueñas said. “If you don’t want the spiritual need, that’s cool, but I’m still going to give you something to eat.”
Blanca Mejia, a member of the church and volunteer with the food distribution, remembers the first time she received food from the church.
“I walked into this place, and there was this huge, huge warehouse,” she said.
She said several months ago she was unemployed and barely had enough money for a deposit on a house and to pay the first month’s rent. She said at that point she didn’t have any money for food.
She said the church’s distribution of food has helped ends meet for her and other families.
“Sometimes the cupboard is a little low and you need a little bit of help to carry you through to the next paycheck,” she said. “It’s amazing how much that food helps.”
