Chula Vista Resident Volunteers with San Diego Food Bank

As a fast start to its annual Guild Giving program in 2016, Guild Mortgage Co. employees volunteered at the San Diego Food Bank to package boxes of food for the senior community in need. With more than 475,000 San Diegans living in poverty, residents of all ages struggle with hunger and need continued help from the community, according to San Diego Food Bank.

“At Guild, we are dedicated to serving the communities where we live and work,” said Rhona Kaninau, senior vice president of loan administration and partner at Guild. “Volunteering with the San Diego Food Bank seemed like a wonderful opportunity to get involved locally. We were motivated by the non-profit’s compelling mission: providing food to people in need, advocating for the hungry and educating the public about hunger in the community.”

The San Diego-based company created the Guild Giving Program in 2010, encouraging employees to donate time and money to important causes and non-profit organizations in their own communities, while providing additional paid time off to participate. Guild employees volunteer with non-profits including food and shelter organizations, health and human services, youth and elderly philanthropy efforts, and arts and education, among others.

A manager at Guild headquarters heard about the volunteer program on KyXy 96.5 and reached out to colleagues from all departments of the company. From new-hires to Guild veterans, nine employees joined the volunteer team and packaged items such as cereal, beans and canned goods for 480 residents over 60-years-old.

“Our team felt that it would be a great time to help after the holidays, when philanthropic efforts typically slow down,” said Kaninau. “I am so glad we were able to volunteer and see the well-organized San Diego Food Bank system at work.”

The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in San Diego County, distributing 22 million pounds of food in 2015. The San Diego Food Bank works to acquire, store, organize and distribute food through a network of 330 nonprofit organizations, including food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless and residential shelters, youth programs, senior centers, and low-income daycare centers in communities throughout San Diego County. For more details or to register to volunteer, visit sandiegofoodbank.org.