With San Diego Restaurant Week officially underway, Feeding San Diego is encouraging San Diegans dining out this week to look for the Give a Meal menu item at participating restaurants to help those facing hunger. Throughout San Diego Restaurant Week and beyond, guests at participating Give a Meal restaurants have the option to add a $15 meal for a person facing hunger to their order. Feeding San Diego is the county’s leading hunger relief and food rescue organization and has launched the Give a Meal initiative to bolster sales at local restaurants while also giving back to those in need in San Diego County. Since the onset of the pandemic, the organization has seen a 50 percent increase in the need for food assistance and the numbers remain elevated even as recovery efforts roll out.
San Diego Restaurant Week runs April 11-18 and allows diners to order from prix fixe menus at a variety of price points to support the local restaurant community.
The over 25 restaurants that have already signed up for the initiative have collectively donated nearly 600 meals to date.
Participating local restaurants have the opportunity to prepare meals for those in need in the community through this initiative. Once a restaurant has a minimum of five donated meals, they prepare them, alert Feeding San Diego via the MealConnect app, and Feeding San Diego sends a trained MealConnect volunteer driver or community partner to pick up and get the food to people in need. Restaurants participating in both San Diego Restaurant Week and Give a Meal include Carte Blanche, Café Coyote, George‘s at the Cove, One Door North, Terra American Bistro, The Olive Café, and The Smoking Goat.
The Give a Meal concept was developed in partnership with Girl Scout Troop #4978 as an idea for their Bronze Award. Lily Piehl, age 10, had the idea to do something to help drive business for restaurants while helping to feed people facing hunger, so reached out to Feeding San Diego for help developing the concept. Her parents, Fred and Tammy Piehl, own two restaurants in North Park—The Smoking Goat and One Door North—and know first-hand the challenges the on-and-off closures have had on restaurants over the past year.
“My parents own restaurants in San Diego, and I know that most local restaurant owners and their employees need help right now. Asking our community to order meals from restaurants and then giving them to people who are hungry seems like a great way for everyone to help each other,” said Lily Piehl. “I am proud that Feeding San Diego agrees, and I am grateful for their hard work to make this idea happen. Our troop is very excited to help communicate this idea to local restaurants and community members.”
Feeding San Diego is a proud sponsor of San Diego Restaurant Week. Additional restaurants are invited to sign up to participate in the Give a Meal initiative here.