With food benefits continuing to hang in the balance amid the ongoing federal government shutdown \u2014 leaving millions of Californians unsure how much assistance they\u2019ll get this month and moving forward \u2014 local cities, organizations, businesses and more are working to collect and distribute food to those in need.<\/p>\n
The federal government shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass a budget for the 2026 fiscal year \u2014 with Republicans clashing with Democrats over the latter\u2019s demands to address the affordability of health care across the country.<\/p>\n
Concern about the availability of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP \u2014 which is known as the CalFresh benefits program in California \u2014 began in late October, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, said it would freeze benefits starting Nov. 1 because it couldn\u2019t keep funding the program.<\/p>\n
Democrats, on Oct. 29, made a push in Congress to carve out funding to continue food aid funding despite the shutdown, which Republicans rejected. Then, on Monday, Nov. 3, two judges issued rulings<\/a> requiring the federal government to keep SNAP running.<\/p>\n But the program will only be partially funded with a $4.65 billion emergency fund. Under normal circumstances, it costs about $8 billion a month to provide 1 in 8 Americans with food benefits.<\/p>\n That means those who rely most on SNAP and CalFresh benefits are still in the dark about how much money they will receive for their benefits this month \u2014 and when those payments will come through to their accounts.<\/p>\n The emergency fund money is also just a temporary fix \u2014 with longer term SNAP benefits still at risk next month if the government shutdown continues that long.<\/p>\n Locally, though, many organizations are working to provide food to those who need it most as uncertainty about CalFresh continues, putting 1.5 million people in Los Angeles County and more than 93,000 people in Long Beach alone at risk of going hungry.<\/p>\n In Long Beach, Mayor Rex Richardson announced the creation of the Long Beach Food Access Fund \u2014 a new collaboration with Long Beach Gives and the Nonprofit Partnership \u2014 aimed at connecting nonprofits that provide food to the local community with more resources to do that work.<\/p>\n The fund is seeking donations from the community through Long Beach Gives\u2019 online platform<\/a>, which will be distributed to local organizations, food banks and others. Long Beach Gives also hosts the online fundraising campaign of the same name each year, which has raised more than $10 million<\/a> for local organizations supporting dozens of different causes since 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to work together to make sure our most vulnerable neighbors are safe and fed. When the federal government falls short, Long Beach steps up,\u201d Richardson said in a Monday news release. \u201cOur community has a strong desire to help each other, and this is a great opportunity to help.\u201d<\/p>\n Also in Long Beach, the nonprofit Food Finders also recently announced that it would expand its work in the city. The organization, which serves four counties in Southern California, will host grocery distributions<\/a> at Admiral Kidd Park every weekend through Saturday, Dec. 6.<\/p>\n There are several other organizations offering food assistance in Long Beach, including the Long Beach Center of Economic Inclusion, Christian Outreach in Action, Help Me Help You, Church One Ministries, Long Beach Community Table and the Long Beach Rescue Mission.<\/p>\n A full list of food pantries, grocery and hot meal distributions, and other food-related resources in Long Beach for November, is available at shorturl.at\/JpUg0<\/a>.<\/p>\n Recreational Coffee, at 237 Long Beach Blvd., also announced that it will accept donations this week for shelf-stable food, hygiene products, essential undergarments and pet food. Starting the week of Monday, Nov. 10, the business will stock those items for community members to come pick up \u2013no questions asked \u2014 from 10 a.m. to noon every Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re also working on meals that we\u2019ll be able to provide free of cost to anyone that needs it,\u201d the business wrote in a Tuesday, Nov. 4, social media post. \u201cDonations are accepted, but not necessary! More information on the meals will be provided soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Sacred Skin Alchemy will also host a community pantry, the business announced on social media this week.<\/p>\n \u201cWith everything going on with the government shutdown and our administration\u2019s decisions,\u201d Paige Cano, the shop\u2019s owner, said in an online video, \u201cI have decided that it is up to us to feed each other.\u201d<\/p>\n The pantry, located in front of the shop at 1736 E. Broadway, will be open for donations and pickups as of Wednesday, Nov. 5, Cano said.<\/p>\n Other organizations, including the Volunteer Center South Bay\/Harbor\/Long Beach, will also host food drives in the coming days and weeks to help people put food on the table throughout November and leading up to the holidays.<\/p>\n The Volunteer Center\u2019s food drive will take place from 2 to 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7<\/a>, at its Torrance location, 1230 Cravens Ave. The organization is specifically asking for pasta, canned fruit, cereal, peanut butter, jelly and rice donations.<\/p>\n \u201cYour donations help stock our Food for Kids Program,\u201d the organization said, \u201cproviding shelf-stable foods to families who are struggling to make ends meet.\u201d<\/p>\n The Volunteer Center hosts food pantries in Long Beach at 1407 E. Fourth St. from 10 a.m. to noon every Wednesday and Friday, and at the Torrance location from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. every Thursday.<\/p>\n Though the food drive will take place on Friday, the organization can accept donation drop-offs at the Torrance location during regular business hours.<\/p>\n In Carson, Prevailing in Christ Ministries will host a food giveaway at 11609 E. Del Amo Blvd. at 1 p.m. Nov. 15. And leading up to Thanksgiving, Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes will host her food and turkey giveaway at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, at the South Bay Pavilion Mall, 20700 Avalon Blvd.<\/p>\n Both Carson events will require proof of residency.<\/p>\n The Hermosa Beach Rotary Club and Unite For Good will also host a food drive from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11. Donations can be made to the Rotary Club building, 2521 Valley Drive, or to the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce, 514 N. Prospect Ave., through Nov. 14.<\/p>\n Here are some other organizations providing food assistance programs in the area:<\/p>\n The Stillman Center Salvation Army, 820 Lomita Blvd. The Associated Press Contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With food benefits continuing to hang in the balance amid the ongoing federal government shutdown \u2014 leaving millions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,16844,413,23,131,133,132,137,100,200,1270],"class_list":{"0":"post-40978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-carson","10":"tag-food","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-long-beach","13":"tag-long-beach-headlines","14":"tag-long-beach-news","15":"tag-los-angeles-county","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-south-bay","18":"tag-torrance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nVenice Family Clinic \u2013 Gardena Health Center, 742 W. Gardena Blvd.
\nToberman Neighborhood Center, 131 N. Grand Ave.
\nYWCA Harbor Area, 437 W. Ninth St.
\nWilmington YMCA Food Pantry, 1127 N. Avalon Blvd.
\nCrossroads, 16508 S. Vermont Ave.
\nLA City FamilySource Centers, which are offering weekly food distributions at 19 locations across Los Angeles. Find locations at la4families.org<\/a>.
\nHarbor Gateway South Neighborhood Council, 1435 Del Amo Blvd.
\nMeals on Wheels, 1404 Cravens Ave.
\nBartlett Senior Citizens Center, 1318 Cravens Ave.
\nFirst Methodist Church of Torrance, 1551 El Prado Ave,<\/p>\n