The San Diego Asian Youth Organization and the Pan Pacific Law Enforcement Association co-hosted the ninth annual Thanksgiving Rice Drive Saturday to feed hungry families in San Diego County.
The two organizations run the food drive with the San Diego Police Department’s Multi-Cultural Community Relations Office to distribute rice in lieu of traditional Thanksgiving fare. According to the event organizers, rice can feed a family for multiple weeks whereas Thanksgiving food is generally good for one or two days.
The food drive collected 36,000 pounds of rice in 2017.
Given the county’s food insecurity issues — San Diego Hunger Coalition data shows roughly 486,000 county residents face daily food shortages — San Diego City Councilman Chris Cate announced Friday that he will donate one ton of rice to the food drive.
“Rice is a staple food for Asian Americans,” Cate said. “With more than one-third of my sixth council district being of Asian-American descent, I am honored to personally donate 2,000 pounds of rice to support families for the Thanksgiving holiday season.”
–City News Service
