The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is preparing for a surge in demand as uncertainty over government funding threatens food assistance.
"We are facing a hunger cliff. Absolutely. We don't know when this shutdown will be over and we don't know what the implications will be, so we're looking at a drastic increase in community need," said Laurel Alcantar, Director of Development at the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.
The CalFresh program was fully funded previously, but uncertainty now looms over whether those benefits will continue to be funded in November. An estimated 33,000 Santa Barbara County residents who rely on CalFresh could be affected.
Alcantar said the last government shutdown in 2018 drove a significant jump in demand, with an additional 1,776 federal employees in Santa Barbara County coming to the food bank for help.
With potential cuts during the holidays, she's worried about the impact on families.
"So we've already seen that increases can occur, and we're anticipating even more this year," Alcantar said.
Rep. Salud Carbajal, who represents the 24th Congressional District, visited the food bank this week and urged anyone who needs food to reach out to local food banks.
"They're going to do the best that they can to fill the void, but they're not going to be able to fill the entire void. So here's what we're going to rely on: each other, family, friends, community to step up to help our neighbors who are food insecure. We all need to do our part to help those who need us the most," Rep. Carbajal said.
Each year, the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County serves over 200,000 people, but it cannot meet demand without help from donors.
"We're seeing that we really need to be here for each other now more than ever," Alcantar said.
For information on how to access help from the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, visit this link: https://foodbanksbc.org/
San Luis Obispo County officials said more than 28,000 residents who rely on CalFresh in that county could also be impacted. To locate food assistance programs near you in San Luis Obispo County, visit the SLO Food Bank's Food Resources Map at findfoodslo.org.
