In the heart of El Cajon, Holy Trinity Catholic Church hosts one of 21 of Catholic Charities’ Emergency Food Distribution Network Plus (EFDN+) distribution sites. Scattered throughout San Diego County, these volunteer-led sites, with thoughtful care, ensure sites are placed where need is greatest and distribute food weekly to in-need participants.

At Holy Trinity, Farrah is the managing volunteer who keeps the operation running week after week with an incredible team of generous and dedicated volunteers. In the parish, she pulled out a well-worn scrapbook filled with photos of volunteers dating back to 1989. She pointed to a photograph of her own father. With a smile, she explained that he had worked at the church thirty years earlier, and now she was proudly continuing the family tradition of giving back. Farrah’s niece is now busy handing out cans of tuna to those in line, a living reminder that the family tradition of service is still going strong.

As Farrah reminisced, other volunteers chimed in, sharing stories of past community members and how the pantry had evolved over the decades. Each volunteer shared a concern that weighs across the whole community: How can we keep providing for our people?

Inflation and changes in federal support funding threaten the community’s ability to continuously pay for food on their own, month after month. Each week, the team at Holy Trinity is used to seeing the same faces. In the past few months, new faces have become increasingly more common.

It is hard to imagine needing support when you haven’t had to ask for help before, but at the EFDN+ Program, volunteers see families and individuals each day who never thought they would ask for help and are now grateful it was there for them when they needed it most.