FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — As the government shutdown continues, organizations across California are stepping up to fill the need for food in the Central Valley.<\/p>\n
“Under normal circumstances, about 1 in 4 neighbors experience food insecurity in central California,” Co-CEO of the Central California Food Bank (CCFB), Natalie Caples, said.<\/p>\n
“In a community that supplies much of the nation’s food supply, it is estimated that 25% of our kids go hungry each and every day,” William Chaltraw with Valley Children’s Healthcare stated.<\/p>\n
To combat food insecurity, Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, the Alliance of California’s Farmers and Ranchers Community Fund, and Valley Children’s Hospital Foundation donated $10,000 to the Central California Food Bank on Monday.<\/p>\n
“Every $1 that gets donated, we can turn that into 4 meals,” Caples stated.<\/p>\n
An additional gift of $5,000 was also given to non-profit Fresno United, which Soria says has made an impact since the pandemic.<\/p>\n
“They’ve been able to serve 1.7 million pounds of food to our local families,” Assemblywoman District 27 (D), Esmeralda Soria said.<\/p>\n
These donations come after the U.S. Department of Agriculture posted a notice<\/a> on its website saying SNAP and CalFresh benefits will not be issued starting November 1.<\/p>\n RELATED: Could halt in SNAP benefits, paychecks pressure lawmakers to strike shutdown deal?<\/a><\/p>\n “For our five-county service area, that means over 720,000 individuals, neighbors, families, children are going to be going without the critical support they rely on,” Caples said.<\/p>\n If those benefits are paused next month, those people may need to turn to the food bank to feed their families so these donations come at a crucial time.<\/p>\n “To fill the gap of $138 million in SNAP benefits every single month to our five-county service area is just not possible without the support,” Caples explained.<\/p>\n CCFB is grateful for the community support it has already received, but asks if anyone does have the ability to donate, they can do so on its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n For news and weather updates, follow Tiffany Olin on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2025 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n