BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Families in Kern County continue to struggle to put food on the table \u2014 and the evidence is clear on California Avenue, where thousands lined up early this morning to make sure their families get something to eat.<\/p>\n
Stay Focused Ministries, a nonprofit that has served communities across California and nationwide for more than 35 years, is seeing record turnout at its Bakersfield food distribution site. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Volunteers spent the morning managing lines that wrapped around the block a visible consequence of the ongoing government shutdown and delays in federal food assistance programs.<\/p>\n
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\u201cNot getting enough food to eat because I run out,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Linda Perkins, who has been on disability since 1984.\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s why I come to these giveaways.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perkins says she depends on CalFresh, California\u2019s version of SNAP benefits, to get by. <\/p>\n
But her payments haven\u2019t arrived, and standing in the long lines is difficult because of her disability.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve shut down all these places because there\u2019s not enough food to give people anymore,\u201d\u00a0she said.\u00a0\u201cCatholic Charities are limited, these people are limited \u2014 and I\u2019m so blessed that they\u2019re still here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manuel Carrizalez, founder of Stay Focused Ministries, says the organization is doing everything it can to meet the growing demand. <\/p>\n
Beyond feeding families, he says, the effort helps keep neighborhoods safe by preventing the ripple effects of hunger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a hungry kid, you\u2019ve got an angry kid,\u201d\u00a0Carrizalez said.\u00a0\u201cAnd when you have anger, things happen in the neighborhood \u2014 that just comes with the territory. <\/p>\n
We\u2019re able to fill bellies today, but what about tomorrow?\u201dFor Chanel Brown, a single mother of two, the return of her CalFresh benefits has brought only partial relief.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot having enough to make it to the end of the month \u2014 I mean really, everyone\u2019s struggling right now because the prices of everything have gone up,\u201d\u00a0Brown said.<\/p>\n
Others, like Mainor Reyes, say any bit of help makes a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took this little walk to the welfare office to get me a free box so I can take care of my family with a little bit of food,\u201d\u00a0Reyes said.<\/p>\n
As SNAP benefits slowly return, many families across Kern County say local food banks are their only lifeline.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
23ABC will continue to provide updates and community resources for residents affected by the ongoing government shutdown.<\/p>\n
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Families in Kern County continue to struggle to put food on the table \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,155,153,152,162],"class_list":["post-43568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-downtown","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-kern-county-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43568","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=43568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}