Fresh Food Connect - Organization Highlight

Our CEO Kayla Birdsong spent a week in San Diego meeting the people behind our fastest-growing market in person, and came back with a lot to be excited about.

She welcomed two new team members on the ground: Emma Burns, our new bilingual Outreach Coordinator, and Crystal Hilsley, our newest board member (more on her below!). Together, they visited four of our San Diego operators, including Healthy Day Partners, Heaven's Windows, I Love to Glean, and Porchlight Community Services, each doing the work of turning donated produce into meals in their own way.

The trip closed with an evening at Healthy Day Partners' Encinitas headquarters, bringing together gardeners, operators, funders, and staff to celebrate the season.

The highlight? Pam MacCallum was honored as Fresh Food Connect's #1 contributing gardener in the entire country, having donated 1,500+ pounds of homegrown produce to Healthy Day Partners over the past few years.

Growth like this doesn't happen without the community behind it, so a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the trip possible, especially Bill Hornung of the Harry Chapin Foundation and our partners at Hunter Industries.