Pack to Plate

Nearly 400,000 people in San Diego are food insecure, including over 100,000 children. 

Low wages and rising food costs make it impossible to provide three nutritious meals a day for themselves and their families.  Without enough nutritious food, they are unable to lead active and healthy lives. 

DSC01067-EDIT

Host and/or sponsor a meal packing event

Pack to Plate is a powerful way to bring teams, organizations and community groups together for a hands-on service experience that makes an immediate impact.  In just a few hours, your group will pack 10,000 meals for families across San Diego County – families who are struggling to put food on the table. 

Meal packing events bring volunteers together for a simple, fun experience that will help ensure families in our community have access to consistent, nutritious meals. 

Host an event by providing a space, volunteers, or both, and we handle the rest. Or sponsor an event by covering the cost of supplies, with space and volunteers provided by your team or ours.

What happens at a meal packing event

Volunteers work side by side at packing stations measuring ingredients, sealing meal bags, and preparing boxes for delivery to local food banks across the region.  35-40 volunteers can pack 10,000 meals within a few hours.  Larger groups can pack 20,000, 30,000, or 40,000 meals for families struggling with food insecurity!

DSC01040-EDIT
DSC01044-EDIT

Who can participate

Corporate teams, church and faith groups, schools and universities, services clubs and community groups. 

You recruit volunteers and International Relief Teams will provide the ingredients, equipment, supplies and guidance needed to run a fun, meaningful event.   

Interested in hosting and/or sponsoring an event?

Please complete the form below and our team will follow up within 48 hours.

Name(Required)

Related Stories

Holding On in the Midst of Conflict in Sudan

When the rainy season arrives in rural Guatemala, it brings more than muddy roads and swollen rivers. It also brings a rise in respiratory illnesses that can quickly become dangerous for young children living far from hospitals. When Mayra’s baby boy, Angel, began struggling to breathe, she faced the frightening question many parents in her community know too well: how to get help in time.
Read

Growing Up in the Shadow of War in Gaza

In the dusty rows of tents in a displacement camp in Khan Younis, six-year-old Omar clutches a broken toy car found among the rubble. Days are long and filled with hunger and uncertainty, measured by the wait for shelling to stop and for the war to end. Families like Omar’s shelter in fragile tents, their routines reduced to survival. But when relief arrived during a brief emergency window, volunteers brought daily hot meals that restored strength and offered a moment of normalcy in a childhood overshadowed by conflict.
Read

Fighting Hunger on the Frontlines of Drought in Kenya

In drought‑stricken Turkana County in northern Kenya, families are pushed to the brink as dry riverbeds, failed rains, and livestock losses make food and water scarce. Through the Turkana Emergency Food Relief Program, International Relief Teams and partners reached 20 of the hardest‑hit villages, delivering more than 107,000 pounds of fortified rice and preparing hot meals for mothers, children, the elderly, and those most at risk. For many, it was the first meal in days which represented a moment of relief, renewed strength, and a reminder that hope can still reach even the most parched places.
Read