With Thanksgiving approaching, the need for food assistance is surging across the Bay Area.
Community groups across the Bay Area are working overtime to make sure families have food on the table.
For six months, Oakland residents Evin Glaude and Somer Taylor have relied on the East Oakland Collective’s bi-weekly food distribution drive.
“The impact of not having it is not being able to eat, not being able to feed yourself or your family,” Taylor said. “It can be devastating.”
They waited for over an hour on Thursday with dozens of others, waiting for turkeys and all the fixings to make a Thanksgiving meal.
“It helps you to still be able to commit to being in community with people and sharing food with one another without the scarcity of ‘how am I going to get it?'” Glaude said.
The East Oakland Collective said Thursday’s turkey giveaway will feed about 300 people and their families, double what they served before the recent SNAP Benefit delays. Candice Elder, the founder and executive director at the collective, said that the amount of people seeking assistance has not slowed down.
“The SNAP uncertainty just exasperated peoples food insecurity and people lost faith in the government to be able to provide,” Elder said. “So even though some folks SNAP benefits were funded at the beginning of the month, our numbers have still doubled. It has not slowed down.”
Statewide, all signs point to a growing need throughout California. A recent Public Policy Institute of California study said that three in 10 Californians report they have cut meals or reduced food to save money, a reality many local families know all too well.
“It’s sad because they shouldn’t have to live like this. They should be able to eat,” Constance Davis, an Oakland resident, said. “They shouldn’t have to wake up and wonder what their children are going to eat.”
Across the bridge in San Francisco, a similar surge in need is also happening, where dozens packed the community youth center for its annual turkey giveaway.
“We’re really excited that people are activating those cards. They want to use them. But here today at CYC, at the Community Youth Center, it’s always our annual Thanksgiving turkey giveaway so that people can actually enjoy their Thanksgiving,” San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan said.