SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Inside Feeding San Diego, volunteers are hard at work.
They might not know it, but some of the food they are handling will end up in the homes of the men and women serving our country.
It's part of the non-profit's Feeding Heroes program.
"Feeding heroes is coordinated with about 17 other organizations who, in part have food who in part have food as part of their offering to people who are from military families," said Bob Kamensky, chief strategy officer.
So far this fiscal year, more than 890,000 of food bagged up by volunteers has gone solely to the Feeding Heroes program, according to Feeding San Diego.
A recent Department of Defense surveyshows 45 percent of junior enlisted service members' spouses reported facing food insecurity.
That's with only 21 percent of spouses responding to the survey.
"We can do better," said Kamensky.
For Bob Kamensky, it is personal.
He's the Chief Strategy Officer at Feeding San Diego, but before that, he served our country in the U.S. Navy for over 35 years.
"I experienced four meals a day on a submarine when we were at sea. No one went hungry, but I didn't know what happened when they went home," he explained.
The impact on the families weighs on his mind, especially while thinking of his own kids who are a part of the military family community.
"I can only imagine my daughter and two grandsons being affected by something as the need for food security while her spouse is forward deployed and potentially in harm's way," he said.
Kamensky said he knows it's demanded of someone in his role to make sure no one has to worry about their next meal.
You can find free food near you here.
