Miles McPherson of Rock Church and Former NFL Wide Receiver Andre Reed Deliver Meals in COVID-19 Hunger Relief

Rock Church has put out the “bat signal” and local restaurants and delivery services have answered the call to band together and bring hunger relief to our frontline hospital heroes and first responders. So far, 3,680 meals have been delivered to 13 hospitals throughout San Diego County.

Last Thursday, Senior Pastor of the Rock Church, Miles McPherson and NFL Hall of Fame Wide Receiver, Andre Reed delivered 50 meals to the San Diego Police Department and 50 meals to the San Diego 911 Call Center. The meals were a part of the Rock Church’s COVID-19 relief effort. 

Andre Reed shares, “I had no idea what an act of service being a 911 dispatcher does to keep people safe. The SDPD is a huge piece to our San Diego community. After visiting them last week, I truly have an added respect for our police force, another set of frontline heroes to serve with the Rock church and Pastor Miles.” 

The Rock has been working with Grub Hub to coordinate deliveries and restaurants including Los Primos, Toast, Lola 55, Neighborhood House Association, Beignet Belly, Chick-fil-A and California Pizza Kitchen have signed on for the task. Among the 13 hospitals are Sharp Grossmont, Sharp Memorial, Sharp Chula Vista, Sharp Coronado, Kaiser San Diego Medical Center, Kaiser Zion Medical Center, UCSD Hillcrest, UCSD LaJolla, Scripps La Jolla, Scripps Mercy Chula Vista, VA Hospital in Ja Jolla, Palomar Poway and Palomar Escondido.

Assistant Chief Kirk Nichols expressed his gratitude for the initiative, “The Port of San Diego Harbor Police is so fortunate to have caring and generous partners like the Rock Church and Los Primos. When our men and women see the burritos, the masks and the hand sanitizers, we’re reminded that our community truly cares for us and our wellness as we continue to serve during this pandemic. It really means a lot to know that Pastor Miles took the time to stop by with food  as a way of saying and thanks. Thank you Rock Church and Los Primos for your kindness, generosity and genuine care for our first responders. Stay well.”

The Rock is working directly with the hospitals, first responder groups and restaurants to coordinate the delivery of meals in accordance with social distancing and safe food handling practices. 

Local Sharp Chula Vista hospital RN expressed, “I wanted to say thank you so much for the lovely meal and note you provided for us all on Monday. We love our community and it is an honor to serve especially at this time. People were talking for much of the day as to how kind that was of your congregation to give back to us. Thank you for showing our medical community the love of Jesus in this very meaningful way. Coming into our break room tired and hungry to find individual boxes with a meal and a note made our day!”

Due to the saturated work environment, hospitals have requested at least 30 meals at a time, individually boxed, that ideally can be hand-held and not refrigerated or heated. Individuals are discouraged from dropping off meals per the request of the hospital. If you would like to donate to this cause, please email giving@sdrock.com. If you own a restaurant and want to donate meals, please sign up at sdrock.com/covidmeals.