IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) – Tucked away in an Imperial Beach strip mall is the Magnolia Project.
“Magnolia Project is the first People's Choice pantry of its kind in the entire county of San Diego,” Regina Gamboa, Exec. Dir. & Co-Founder of Magnolia Project, said. “What we do is we allow people to come in that are suffering from food insecurity, uh, health issues, cultural choices.”
Gamboa and her husband James are the co-founders of the food pantry.
“They get to come in, and they get to shop for what they want or what they might be curious about or what they don't really like and can't afford but need it. And it's all for free,” Gamboa said.
“Sometimes we walk them out to their car with their groceries, and we've had it to where they cry; they're just so grateful,” Hada Rolon, a longtime volunteer, said.
Gamboa told ABC 10News since its inception in January 2021, the Magnolia Project has helped out more than 20,000 families. As we reported in March, the Magnolia Project was on the verge of closing.
“So, we were going to close in March because of personal family crisis,” Gamboa said.
“They have a daughter, Leah, and she's just the biggest angel. She, you know, she needs 100% of their care, and even with that they come, and they do this selflessly for everybody in our community,” Rolon said.
But they were able to restructure the food pantry and how things are run to welcome people back in April.
“We reopened again with the project manager that's here doing the daily operations,” Gamboa said. “It allows me to focus more on my daughter, which is our special needs child, but I can be more aware of what's out there as far as funding and stuff.”
And funding is another constant hurdle.
“We're not funded, so all of this is either bought by my husband or myself or the people that collaborate with us bring it in,” Gamboa said. “As far as I, I feel, we're here to stay. We're not going anywhere, and we're going to actually enhance our program pretty soon.”
She not just wanting to provide food but recipes on how to cook the food in a healthy way.
"We're working with UCSD right now, and I'll be teaching some nutritional classes on sugar-free living and diabetes,” Gamboa said.
The Magnolia Project is serving the south bay with one bag of groceries at a time.
“We figure it out on a day to day and a lot of prayer, but we are still here to nurture the community,” Gamboa said. “We're doers, and we're problem solvers, and it's going to work.”
