Chapter 11

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Million Meal Event

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Million Meal Event

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…

– Matthew 25:35

Upcoming Event

San Diego Million Meal Event

People are assembling meal packages under a tent. One person, wearing a hairnet and jacket, reaches for a packet on a table filled with food bags, while others are engaged in the task nearby.

How to Participate

Volunteers of all ages and from all corners of the region come together joyously for one purpose: pack 1 million meals for kids living in poverty. They work in teams, assembly-line style, all to the beat of fun music.


In 2023, the volunteers wanted to keep going even as rain poured. So many turned out in 2024 that they finished early.

This extraordinary event returns in 2025 on Saturday, June 14, at Cathedral Catholic High School, with set up on the 13th.

The organizers, the deacons of the San Diego Diocese, will once more need at least 3,000 volunteers and donations to buy the meal ingredients.


They will reach out to parishes, schools, clubs and families to invite them to participate as a group, and to raise funds for the event. Every $1 that is donated pays for four nutritious meals, in collaboration with the organization Kids Around the World. Please return to this page for more information soon.

And save the date — June 14, 2025 — to put your faith in action – and to have fun.

Get full details here:

Million Meal Event
Donate
Volunteer

Our Impact

Meals delivery in Tijuana

Thank You to San Diego Diocese

The food packed by volunteers in the Million Meal Event in June 2023 was distributed to the poorest families in Tijuana and Zambia.

The meal packets were tangible proof that individuals, families and parishes gladly put their faith in action to ease a child’s hunger and to bring them hope.

Support Us

Our Faith in Action

Million Meals Tijuana 2023

Million Meals Event 2023

Million Meals Zambia 2023

Million Meals Tijuana 2022

Million Meals Event 2022

Resources

Kids Around the World, Inc. (KIDS)

Casa de los Pobres USA

Contacts

Deacon Mike Daniels

Lead Event Coordinator
(St. Brigid Parish)
Mission Deanery

Caroline Kelner

St. Brigid Parish

Cathedral Deanery

Deacon James Scull
Ascension Parish

Mission Deanery

Deacon Mike Daniels
St. Brigid Parish

South Bay Deanery

Deacon Wil Hollowell
Corpus Christi Parish

El Cajon Deanery

Deacon Jerry Stenovec
St. Luke Parish

Escondido Deanery

Deacon Kevin Murray

Sacred Heart Parish (Coronado)

Oceanside Deanery

Deacon John Fredette
St. Thomas More Parish

El Centro Deanery

Deacon Domingo Enriquez
El Centro Catholic

Contact Information

Staff

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Nuestra Vida es Misión

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Copyright © 2025

Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego

About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pulido’s coat of arms is divided into four quarters with wavy horizontal lines from top to bottom. The blue and white lines represent the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also suggest water, which alludes to Jesus washing the feet of His disciples and to the waters of baptism. The red and gold lines represent the Holy Spirit and fire. The colors also can be seen as referring to the Blood that (along with water) poured from Jesus’ side at His crucifixion, as well as to the bread (gold) and wine (red) transformed into the Eucharist. At the center is a roundel featuring a symbolic representation of the “mandatum” (washing of the feet), which he believes exemplifies service to all humanity. The roundel’s outer edge is a line composed of small humps; it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Yakima, where Bishop Pulido served as a priest before being named a bishop.

About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pham’s coat of arms depicts a red boat on a blue ocean, which is crisscrossed by diagonal lines suggesting a fisherman’s net. This symbolizes his ministry as a “fisher of men,” as well as how his own father had been a fisherman. The boat is also a symbol of the Church, which is often referred to as the “barque of Peter.” At the center of the sail is a red beehive (a symbol of the bishop’s baptismal patron saint, St. John Chrysostom, who was known as a “honey-tongued” preacher). The beehive is surrounded by two green palm branches (an ancient symbol of martyrdom; the bishop’s ancestors were among Vietnam’s first martyrs). The eight red tongues of fire around the boat are a symbol of the Holy Spirit and a representation of the diversity of ethnic and cultural communities. The red of the boat, the beehive and the tongues of fire allude to the blood of the martyrs.

About the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms combines symbols that reflect Bishop Bejarano’s spiritual life and priestly ministry. The main part of the shield shows four wavy vertical lines on a gold background. These represent flowing waters. This alludes to his chosen motto and also symbolizes the graces that come from the Divine life to quench our thirst for God. The upper third of the shield is red because it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Order of Mercy, of which the Bishop’s patron saint, Raymond Nonnatus, was a member. The central symbol resembles a monstrance because St. Raymond is often depicted holding one. The Eucharist is Bishop Bejarano’s inspiration for his vocation. It was through the Eucharist that he received his call to the priesthood at age seven and which keeps his faith and his ministry going. It represents the call to offer oneself as a living sacrifice. The monstrance is flanked on either side by an image of the Sacred Heart, alluding to the mercy of God and echoing the idea of a sacrificial offering of oneself united to the sacrifice of Christ, and of a rose for Our Lady. It is an allusion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and highlights the bishop’s Hispanic heritage.

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