WITH JUST A WEEK’S WORTH OF RESOURCES remaining at the Stockton Emergency Food Bank, San Joaquin County elected representatives volunteered to help distribute food on Monday.
Stockton city councilmembers and San Joaquin county supervisors helped sort and hand out food to the community. They stated their goal is to highlight the need for more assistance after the federal government announced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits would be partially funded through November.
The food bank is open from 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday, and continues to seek donations to deal with the added demand.
Community Relations Manager Alesha Pichler, estimates the food at Stockton Emergency Food Bank at this time will run out by next week.
“Our weekday drive-thru distribution line has risen from about 450 vehicles a day, to more than 550,” Pichler said. “We estimate today, we will see more than 600 vehicles.”
Pichler also emphasized the food bank preferably accepts food with a long shelf life, such as boxed goods and canned vegetables. She showed as an example that some of the food in the bags they distribute included boxed macaroni and cheese, boxed mashed potatoes, rice and beans, and canned vegetables.
She revealed in their warehouse, a small corner is being dedicated to food being saved to serve to families on Thanksgiving.
“We’re trying to feed the community and at the end of the month, give them a whole turkey dinner with vegetables, stuffing and Turkey of course,” Pichler said. “We will find the product somehow. I just ordered 2,200 turkeys.”
The county is also trying to prepare for the expected rise in demand as funding for the benefits is reduced. They were also directing people to food banks and organizations providing free meals.
San Joaquin supervisor Mario Gardea assisted in distributing food on Monday. He said that the board of supervisors is trying to find a way to help fund the food assistance organizations.
“We talked about different ways of coming up with funding to help supplement funding, whether it could be through just discretionary money, or through other programs that we have at the county that we’re able to do,” Gardea said. “I retired from the Stockton Fire Department, so we’d often go to these households where there were multiple kids, and you always notice at the end of the month the shelves were empty, so I saw firsthand being in the houses, there is a need in the community for food.”
Stockton councilmember Mario Enriquez also volunteered Monday and he shared how he resonated with the community members as he helped distribute food.
“I’m a former SNAP recipient myself, so I know how dependent people are when it comes to getting their SNAP benefits monthly, and when that’s cut off, that means you’re losing $150-$200 to buy food,” Enriquez said. “I think it reaffirms and it reminds me of how much we’re all really struggling right now and at the same time, no one is here to pass judgment.”
This story originally appeared in Stocktonia.
