On a recent Friday morning cars pulled up to Afton Miller’s Talmadge home to drop off dozens of bags filled with donated food.
One by one the donations covered Miller’s driveway, where she runs a monthly food drive in the community. Brown grocery bags and cardboard boxes were filled with canned goods and household supplies.
“It’s easy. ... People are both generous-minded and have free time,” Miller said.
Miller has been running the monthly community-led food drive in Talmadge, a mostly residential community between Kensington and the College Area, since late last year.
The hope, she said, is that other neighborhoods will begin similar efforts and continue donating food long after the pandemic ends.
“You get so much out of it for so little work,” Miller said.
On Friday, Feb. 5, Afton Miller of Talmadge places donated food bags on her driveway that will later be delivered to the San Diego Food Bank and Table of Hope in Sherman Heights.
(Kristian Carreon/For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Talmadge neighbors place a bag, or several bags, of donated food on their porches on the first Friday of the month. Volunteers pick up the donations and drop them off at Miller’s home before being given to a food stand in Sherman Heights that feeds about 300 families a week.
The food stand, known as “Table of Hope and Justice,” distributes food to people not just in the area, but those who live in National City, Chula Vista, El Cajon and Lemon Grove. Those areas have some of the highest daily rates of new COVID-19 cases.
Donations are also sent to the San Diego Food Bank.
She said about eight volunteers collect nearly 140 bags each month. Last week, nearly 65 families in Talmadge signed up to donate food. Miller said most families typically donate more than one bag.
There were brown grocery bags filled with canned goods, pasta, rice, cereal, soup and bread. Other bags contained toilet paper and general hygiene items.
Miller said there has been a lot of interest from neighbors to contribute to the distribution. She said it has succeeded so far because donating is simple, and it doesn’t require a lot of volunteers.
Although she hasn’t been in touch with other communities yet, Miller said she plans to get the word out on social media to others and help neighbors set up community donation drives.
Despite the hardships the pandemic has inflicted upon thousands of people, Miller said she has a hunch that just as many people are looking for ways to help.
Andrea Rocha, a Talmadge resident, volunteers every month with Miller. She drops off dozens of donations from community members in Sherman Heights.
Rocha said it has been wonderful to see Talmadge neighbors rally around the effort. She hopes more communities will want to replicate their efforts.
“It’s fantastic that people have the will and the heart to really give to people who have less,” Rocha said.
Food bags donated by neighbors of Talmadge sit on Afton Miller’s driveway that will later be picked up and delivered to the San Diego Food Bank and Table of Hope.
(Kristian Carreon/For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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