Interfaith Community Services - Food Pantry at Inland Service Center

Lack of adequate food is often what brings people to Interfaith's doors, so feeding the hungry has always been one of our core services. Interfaith began when a handful of people started mobile food pantries out of the trunks of their cars. Last year, we served more than 174,000 hot meals at our nutrition center in Escondido, and distributed more than 317,000 meals worth of groceries at our two food pantries in Escondido and Oceanside. Interfaith operates two food pantries, one at our Inland Service Center in Escondido and another in our Coastal Service Center in Oceanside. Both locations provide donated items from local food drives by our faith center network and other supporting individuals, businesses, schools, and community organizations. Food is provided through the pantries to individuals and families on an emergency basis, providing up to a three-day supply. Individuals and families working with Interfaith's client advocate staff in our Family & Social Services programs and our Shelter and Housing programs benefit from more frequent support from the food pantry. Each morning at our Inland Service Center in Escondido, from 6:30am - 7:30 a.m., volunteers from local faith communities, schools, and service clubs gather to serve a free hot breakfast to the homeless and low income in our area. We typically serve between 100 and 150 hungry people each morning. For many of our morning clients, this breakfast might be the only hot meal they eat all day, so we typically serve a meal that looks more like a dinner, such as spaghetti with meatballs, a green salad, green beans, garlic bread, a pastry, coffee, milk, and juice. In addition, each person is given a sack lunch "to go" for work or school.