SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A new grant is helping a San Diego nonprofit expand its services during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kitchens for Good recently got a $75,000 grant from the San Diego Foundation and San Diego Gas & Electric.
With the new money, Kitchens for Good is now cooking 7,000 meals each week, which local food banks give away to people in need.
The meals are "heat and eat," said co-founder Aviva Paley. That helps people who can't cook or don't have a full kitchen get healthy meals.
"If you are a home-bound senior or someone who doesn't have a full kitchen or the capacity to cook for yourself, it can be really difficult to turn that bag of mixed match groceries into a healthy nutritious meal," said Paley.
Before the pandemic, Kitchens for Good made 2,000 meals per week. The program provided job and skills training to people with troubled past, many of whom had been in prison or experienced homelessness.
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The grant is helping Kitchens for Good rehire some of their graduates who had lost jobs during the pandemic.
"Many of our apprentices have been on that other end of the food line; hungry, hopeless and homeless," said Paley. "This gives them an opportunity to really support someone. And they know how much food can mean to someone who's really struggling."
The grant will allow Kitchens for Good to make an additional 100,000 by the end of 2020. They plan to make 275,000 more meals over the next year.
For more information on the program, click here.
