A few weeks ago my son asked me if there was a way we could help people who “don’t have food.” This was such a sweet and thoughtful statement from an eight-year-old. Serendipitously, SoCal Savvy Mom received an invitation from Feeding America San Diego to join their efforts to feed children and families in our community.

According to their website, one in five children in San Diego county is at risk of hunger. This was shocking to me. Feeding America San Diego, founded in 2007, works to tackle this issue head on, partnering with local school districts, corporate partners and volunteers. Through their efforts FASD delivers food to 60,000 children, families and seniors each week.

What better way to get a first hand look at what they do than to volunteer? It sounded like a rewarding way to to spend a few hours on a Saturday, so signed us up.

Jaxson and I participated in a two-hour shift at the FASD Mira Mesa location where we literally got our hands in on the action. In addition to the two of us, there were groups of girl scouts, college kids, a team from TaylorMade Golf and a few others. Kids six and up are welcome to volunteer and I was happy to see how many young faces were there to help.

The effort of our entire volunteer group would benefit the Feeding America School Pantry program. This division helps to reduce child hunger throughout the county by providing healthy food to low-income families. Jaxson felt good knowing his work would be helping other kids.

We were divided into groups to sort various produce. Our team was on onion and avocado duty. We were definitely craving guacamole by the end of our shift!

When the two hours was up, the group had sorted 18,000 pounds of food. Pretty impressive!

If your child is age six to 10 and they’re interested in helping out, take a look at the FASD NUcrew. This unique kid-specific program offers opportunities to volunteer, host food drives at school, write about ending hunger and recruit friends to help.

Aid for kids doesn’t end when school lets out either. FASD’s “Fuel For Summer” is part of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program to provide low-income children with meals June through August.

If your child or organization is looking for a charity in San Diego County to help, take a look at FeedingAmerica.org for more information.

As for our day of volunteering, when I asked Jaxson how he felt about the work he did he replied, “It was easy and fun. I hope the kids like avocados.”