Mama’s Kitchen Calls for Volunteer Support 

Every day, thousands of critically ill San Diegans rely on the free meal delivery service provided by Mama’s Kitchen. For over three decades, the nonprofit organization has made nutritious, medically tailored meals, packaged and delivered with care to homes by Mama’s Kitchen volunteers year-round.

As the largest nonprofit provider of home-delivered meals in San Diego and the sole provider of medically tailored meals, Mama’s Kitchen is issuing an urgent community-wide call for volunteers ahead of the busy holiday season. Currently, the organization needs volunteer help in three main areas: meal delivery, kitchen/staging, and phone/office support. The urgent need for volunteers is a result of a continuing surge in demand for medically tailored meals for individuals experiencing a health complication that leaves them homebound.

Mama’s Kitchen CEO Alberto Cortés urges community members to consider volunteering, saying, “No amount of volunteer support is too small—even picking up a single meal delivery shift once a month, which takes less than three hours, can have a tremendous impact.”

While the Hunger Coalition reports that San Diego’s hunger rates have receded to pre-pandemic rates, Mama’s Kitchen continues to see sky-rocketing need from the critically ill population. The long-term impacts of the pandemic have resulted in rising rates of chronic illness, and Mama’s Kitchen now receives close to 400 new referrals each month. As the nonprofit closed out its 2022-2023 fiscal year in June, Mama’s Kitchen was shocked to find that they delivered a record-breaking 816,920 medically tailored meals, which is a 22 percent increase over the prior year.

“We continue to see more critically ill community members enrolling in our Medically Tailored Meal Service,” says Cortés. “Along with that comes the need for increased volunteer support, especially for delivery drivers, to ensure each client has access to this crucial lifeline. We currently need 200 additional volunteers to meet the community needs we anticipate for the rest of this year and into 2024.”

Responsibilities of meal delivery volunteers include picking up meals and delivering them to clients’ homes. Volunteer work in the kitchen/staging category can include plating food, prepping the kitchen, organizing and sorting food items, assembling meal delivery bags, loading delivery vehicles, and more. Volunteers working in phone/office support help with general office tasks at the Mama’s Kitchen office (located in the Fairmount Park neighborhood of San Diego), such as filing, organizing, or answering phones. Volunteer opportunities are available Monday through Friday between 8 AM and 6 PM. 

Research has shown that volunteering offers meaningful health benefits, especially for older adults. “Volunteering to do a meal delivery for two routes at a time has been the most memorable experience for us,” says Monica, Mama’s Kitchen volunteer delivery driver. “My husband and I were happy to deliver in the City Heights and North Park neighborhoods, where we lived when we were growing up.”

For community members interested in volunteering with Mama’s Kitchen, the first step is to complete a volunteer application. Next, prospective volunteers attend a 30-minute volunteer orientation session (virtual or in-person), where they learn more about Mama’s Kitchen and the volunteer opportunities available. Mama’s Kitchen requires a background check for delivery driver volunteer positions and conducts reference checks for all non-delivery volunteer positions.

Individuals and families are encouraged to apply. Youth volunteers ages 13+ must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. For questions about volunteer opportunities, visit www.mamaskitchen.org/volunteer/opportunities/ or contact Mama’s Kitchen Director of Volunteer Engagement Philip Chao at philip@mamaskitchen.org or 619-233-6262.

Category: Donations, Food, Local News, Nonprofit, Seniors