SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Volunteers distributed about 53,000 meals Sunday morning at Snapdragon Stadium as the government shutdown paused CalFresh benefits for nearly 400,000 San Diego County residents.
The San Diego Food Bank organized the emergency food distribution after SNAP benefits stopped Saturday due to the federal government shutdown. About 100 volunteers helped more than 2,000 individuals, handing out fresh produce like onions, sweet potatoes, melons and pears, along with bags of canned goods and non-perishables.
"Families were already struggling," a San Diego Food Bank representative said. "The San Diego Food Bank was feeding 400,000 people a month before the shutdown. And now you add on top of that federal workers, active duty military, and now nearly 400,000 individuals that are already receiving CalFresh benefits."
Larry, who attended the distribution with his family, said the assistance is crucial during the shutdown.
"We don't have the money in the first place," Larry said. "We don't have the money to buy something that we would want."
He described his family as low-income and expressed gratitude for the food bank's help.
"It's really very helpful because, especially with the so-called low income family," Larry said. "Now with this you guys are providing us, it's pretty much very helpful."
Volunteer Keith Hall said helping others resonates with his personal experience.
"When I was young and had a young family, we used food services, so it was an opportunity for me to also take advantage of that and give back to the San Diego Food Bank," Hall said.
The government shutdown has created additional strain on food assistance programs that were already serving hundreds of thousands of San Diego County residents monthly.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
