By SDCN Editor
San Diego, CA–Mama’s Kitchen, a local nonprofit organization that delivers meals to critically ill San Diegans, recently completed a solar installation project made possible by a $25,000 grant from the Solar Moonshot Program and local partners Hammond Climate Solutions Foundation, Aloha Solar Power and Left Coast Fund.
The 13.26kW-DC rooftop solar project will save approximately 36,000 lbs. of CO2 emissions annually (the equivalent of 271 new trees plants), helping the nonprofit to keep delivering medically-tailored, delicious meals to critically ill San Diegans, but in a more environmentally-friendly way than ever before. Over the next few decades, the clean energy project will be helping reduce the impacts of the climate crisis and lessening climate injustices.
“The Solar Moonshot Program will allow Mama’s Kitchen to realize a long-standing goal to contribute more to environmentally-responsible solutions on a daily basis,” says Mama’s Kitchen’s CEO, Alberto Cortés. “We have attempted to build a solar project in the past, but the return on investment was projected too far into the future for the organization to make the initial investment. This grant eliminated that barrier and made the project a reality.”
This isn’t the first time Mama’s Kitchen has factored sustainability into its mission. Over the years, Mama’s Kitchen has implemented other significant changes to operations to decrease environmental impact, including combining meal deliveries to reduce fuel use and vehicle emissions.
“The nature of our work at Mama’s Kitchen requires us to operate in real-time to address the immediate needs of a vulnerable population,” says Cortés. “However, we also recognize that the climate crisis is another urgent issue that needs to be addressed, and to quote JFK, ‘If not us, who? If not now, when?’
Established in 1990, Mama’s Kitchen provides nutritional support to San Diego residents at risk of malnutrition due to critical illnesses such as HIV, cancer, congestive heart failure, type 2 diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. With hundreds of volunteers, businesses, and community supporters, Mama’s Kitchen strives to help its clients stay healthy, preserve their dignity, and keep their families together by providing medically tailored home-delivered meals, pantry services, and nutrition education—all at no cost to the client.
“We are thrilled to help Mama’s Kitchen advance their climate goals, and it’s wonderful to see savings from solar furthering Mama’s Kitchen’s important mission,” said Tara Hammond, Executive Director of Hammond Climate Solutions Foundation, which manages the Solar Moonshot Program. “Mama’s Kitchen’s solar project showcases how adopting clean energy reduces costs that can be reinvested into the community while mitigating impacts of the climate crisis, stimulating the economy with local green jobs and contributing to a more just and livable future.”
In addition to providing Mama’s Kitchen with the $25,000 Solar Moonshot Program grant funded by Left Coast Fund, Hammond Climate Solutions Foundation volunteered to design Mama’s Kitchen’s solar power system. In addition, Hammond Climate Solutions applied for California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program rebate, which if secured, would allow Mama’s Kitchen to affordably add an energy storage unit to its clean energy system. Solar paired with energy storage can be used daily, helping to stabilize the local grid and offering backup power in an emergency. The solar installation was completed by Aloha Solar Power, an Encinitas-based solar firm using local, union labor.
For more information about Mama’s Kitchen, visit www.mamaskitchen.org.
