SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Food banks in San Diego County are stepping up for people left with nothing during the federal government shutdown.
"That's an area where Food banks step up when government shutdowns occur; to look out for our military families, federal workers, federal contractors,” Carissa Casares of Feeding San Diego said.
The federal government shutdown has now been going on for many days, and many people impacted by the shutdown are coming to these organizations for help.
"So, we were able to prepare and plan and act quickly as soon as the shutdown went into effect,” Casey Castillo, CEO of San Diego Food Bank, said. "Now, we're adding additional challenges, unfortunately, especially as it applies to Cal Fresh and disruption in benefits next month."
If the shutdown continues past October 23rd and the feds don't dole out additional funding, Cal Fresh benefits, the state's food assistance program, will be delayed in November.
To counteract this pending problem, Governor Gavin Newsom is issuing $80 million in state funding to support any delays triggered by the shutdown. Newsom is also sending National Guard members to support food banks, not in a law enforcement capacity.
"When we use the National Guard during COVID briefly, and if we were to utilize their services now, it would be inside our warehouse helping us sort produce, helping us build boxes of food like our senior food boxes, and helping us build tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of bags of food,” Castillo said.
The Governor's Office told ABC 10News it's using a template during the pandemic to help with the food bank surge back then. While it doesn't have specific plans yet, it says details on which food banks will get the support from the National Guard and state volunteers will come by the start of next month.
"Seeing that the governor is recognizing the work that food banks do and the importance of this work, that is the first step,” Casares said. “But certainly logistics and planning are the next steps to figuring out how this is going to work, should the government shutdown go into November."
