Just Up The Road, Hungry People And Collapsing Food Banks

Written by on March 27, 2020

Just at the worst time … the food bank systems are breaking down.

In nearby Oxnard … and other poor neighborhoods just up the road in Ventura County … people are calling emergency services to say

“I need to talk to someone. I don’t have the most basic of needs. I’m hungry. I can’t feed myself. I can’t feed my family.”

That’s what one social worker Livingston told Ventura County supervisors this week … according to the Ventura County Star.

More than a quarter of Ventura County’s food pantries have shut down in the past two weeks.

Donations from groceries stores dropped to nearly nothing as hoarding emptied shelves at supermarkets.

Volunteers are msotly older adults … who now have to shelter at home.

Food Share is Ventura County’s only regional food bank.

Today, California National Guard troops will be deployed to Food Shareto fill in as volunteers and help pack boxes … according to the Ventura County Star.

This past week, the nonprofit also purchased $230,000 worth of food to make up for losses at grocery stores and a quickly growing need.

Story reported in the Ventura County Star.

https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/2020/03/26/coronavirus-national-guard-help-ventura-county-food-pantries-close/5082569002/


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