By TR Robertson
Vista Teen Outreach was created in 2013 by a group of volunteers who noticed that food insecurity was prevalent among high school aged children in the Vista School System. Food insecurity is a major concern throughout many cities in the United States. This would lead to the creation of an organization that today serves and supports 15 on-site food pantries throughout the Vista Unified School District. In a recent meeting with Vista Teen Outreach Board Vice President Jason Tinling, Jason stressed the continued need for financial support that was needed to allow their volunteer group the capability of providing food during the school year at the various campuses in Vista. Students are able to stop in, pick up food, with the exception of fresh produce, on a daily basis. He said they currently do not have refrigeration units to store fresh produce, so they primarily provide canned and boxed food items. Jason also said some snacks are available at times for the students. A community liaison works on site to assist the students and to stock the pantries. It is estimated their group assists between 1,500–1,800 students and families throughout the year. They currently work out of a site close to TJ Crossman Auto Repair 1148 N Melrose Dr Suite A
Because of the growing prices for food, that they purchase from groups like the San Diego Food Bank and other organizations, it is becoming harder to provide, at each of the schools, enough food to meet the demands they have. With the support from Genmark/Roche, the Tinling Family, and EDCO Waste Disposal, Vista Teen Outreach will be hosting a pickleball tournament, “Pickle for the Pantry”, on Saturday, August 24th, on the 14 courts of theVista Pickleball Club. The Club is located at 685 Taylor Street in Vista. The event will run from 8 am to 6 pm and will feature Men’s. Women’s and Mixed Doubles play. The flyer below goes into more detail about the event. If you are interested in supporting this worthwhile organization and having a great time and are interested in playing, contact Tournament Director Dorcy Norton at
dorcy.norton@sbcglobal.net. If your business or organization is interested in supporting the event or assisting Vista Teen Outreach send an email to vistateenoutreach@gmail.com or go to www.vistateenoutreach.com . Jason said they hope to raise between $5-7,000, which will go a long way to supporting their program for the year.
In addition to the round robin tournament there will be numerous raffle opportunities offering prizes from donors such as SixZero Pickleball, Belching Beaver, Tifosi Optics, San Diego County Credit Union and numerous others. If your company would like to assist with a donation, go to the sites listed above. If you would like to volunteer to help Vista Teen Outreach with distributions, deliveries or in any way, also go to the sites listed. Other yearly programs the organization sponsors include the Summer Bag Program, Holiday Feed a Family, and Thanksgiving Food Baskets, all of which need additional support.
This extremely valuable and worthwhile organization, Vista Teen Outreach, continues to provide food with no qualifications, no checking system, serving only the needs of those students that stop in and get food for themselves or their families. It is estimated over 15 million teens and children suffer from hunger in America and unfortunately some of these are from families in the Vista area and many of these children are homeless. If you personally or your organization or business can assist in any way, contact Vista Teen Outreach.
Remember, “Pickle for the Pantry”, August 24th at the Vista Pickleball Club, 685 Taylor Street in Vista, beginning at 8 am.
