Hunger Relief · AI phone agent

How Feeding San Diego stopped losing callers to phone tag.

A 24/7 AI phone agent so the team could spend less time answering the same questions and more time getting food to people.

Feeding San Diego outdoor food distribution

~80%: reduction in repetitive front-desk call time
8 programs: covered in the knowledge base
< 2 sec: average answer time
0: callers left without a next step

Every call asked the same things.

Feeding San Diego is the only Feeding America partner food bank in San Diego County. They run eight distinct programs, from mobile pantries and school distributions to CalFresh enrollment support and a free on-site marketplace, and field calls from people in urgent need: families trying to find food today, donors wanting to give, volunteers looking to sign up.

The problem was not the volume. It was the repetition. A large share of inbound calls were asking questions already answered on their website: Where is the nearest distribution? What are the Marketplace hours? How do I apply for CalFresh? Each one required a staff member to stop what they were doing, answer the same explanation they had given dozens of times before, and move on.

For a nonprofit operating at this scale, 31 million meals distributed in FY25 alone, every hour of staff time is mission-critical. Time spent on repetitive phone triage is time not spent coordinating food rescue, supporting partner organizations, or helping someone navigate a complex eligibility situation that actually needs a human.

An agent that knows every program, every site, every question.

Hashing AI built a voice agent trained on the full depth of Feeding San Diego's programs, services, and contact information. It answers calls instantly, in a warm and conversational tone, and covers the complete range of what callers ask about.

Food Distribution Locations
Directs callers to the Find Food map and explains how to use it to find free distributions by zip code.
Marketplace Hours & Reservations
Provides Marketplace hours for all days, explains the reservation process, and clarifies walk-up vs. appointment-only sessions.
CalFresh Enrollment Support
Explains eligibility, walks callers through how to schedule a free appointment with a CalFresh specialist, and provides the direct phone number.
Donation Routing
Answers questions about monetary donations, food donations, vehicle donations, and corporate partnerships, and directs callers to the right contact.
Volunteer Sign-Up
Explains individual and group volunteer opportunities, age requirements, and how to register.
Program Eligibility
Covers Feeding Kids, Feeding Families, Feeding Heroes, and Feeding Seniors: who qualifies, what they receive, and where to go.
Smart Escalation
Transfers to a human agent any time a caller is frustrated, the question is outside the knowledge base, or it cannot be resolved in a step or two.

Callers get answers. Staff get their time back.

The agent has been live since May 2025. Any caller who reaches the Feeding San Diego line now gets an immediate answer: no hold music, no voicemail, no callback queue. The agent directs people to food, explains the Marketplace, walks callers through CalFresh enrollment, and hands off to a human the moment the situation calls for it.

For the staff, the impact is straightforward: the repetitive calls are handled. The team's time goes to the work that requires a person: complex eligibility cases, community partnerships, program coordination, and the logistics of moving 2 million pounds of food through the distribution center every month.

Callers are never left without a next step. Every conversation ends with a clear direction, whether that is a phone number, a website, a scheduled appointment, or a live transfer to the right team member.

“It actually knows our programs. Not just the names, the details. Hours, locations, how reservations work at the Marketplace, what documents you need for CalFresh. That specificity is what makes it useful.”

Operations Staff, Feeding San Diego

“What stood out to us was how naturally the agent handles the range of people who call. Someone asking about CalFresh eligibility, someone wanting to volunteer, someone looking for food today, it meets each caller where they are and gives them a real next step. That's exactly what our team was spending time doing manually.”

Director of Programs, Feeding San Diego