Post-shutdown, LA organizations say many people are still seeking help getting food

In the weeks before the longest government shutdown in American history came to a close, food banks and meal programs in the Los Angeles area scrambled to serve a rush of people looking for help, including many older adults.

Hundreds of households signed up for food pantries as SNAP benefits stalled and government workers went without paychecks. More people aged 65 and older turned to senior meal programs for daily lunches.

Even though the government has reopened, some leaders of local food organizations say they don’t expect to see a drop in demand anytime soon, particularly with the holidays approaching.

The government funding bill signed Nov. 12 is “only a temporary fix,” according to Eli Veitzer, president and CEO of Jewish Family Service LA He told LAist the organization is trying to prepare for the possibility of another government shutdown next year.

“We know the drill, we've done this before,” he said. “We know how to flex and expand hours and delivery, but that's really about all that we can do at this point.”

Veitzer and others said the outpouring of donations and volunteers to outreach organizations helped get them through the crisis in the short term, but that’s not sustainable in the long term.

As uncertainty lingers, L.A.-area organizations are keeping food flowing with non-government support, including expanded partnerships with local grocery stores or private donors, thousands of additional volunteers and community contributions.

How we got here

During the government shutdown, which started in early October, the Department of Agriculture froze funding for SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, beginning Nov. 1.

NPR reports it was the first time that’s happened since the program was established.

California, with more than 20 other states, sued the Trump administration over its “unlawful refusal to fund SNAP/CalFresh benefits … despite possessing funds to support this critical program for the month of November,” according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. CalFresh is California’s version of the SNAP program.

Court rulings ordered funding for SNAP to continue, at least partially. The Trump administration initially said it would comply and then appealed.

Then, the government reopened.

The bill passed by Congress funds the government until Jan. 30, with carveouts for SNAP, which will be funded through September 2026.

Angelenos in need

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank saw an immediate surge in demand in October, as people were notified that their benefits would be delayed in November, according to CEO Michael Flood.

The organization saw a 24% jump in people coming for food assistance, Flood told LAist, with some of the food bank’s more than 600 partner agencies across L.A. County reporting even higher increases.

“We have more than 1.5 million people in Los Angeles County who those benefits are critical to them to feed themselves and feed their families,” Flood said. “It's led to a lot of just uncertainty, concern, and just worry about, you know, am I going to be able to get enough help in order to feed myself.”

People waiting in line to receive free groceries in the aftermath of the federal government shutdown which caused SNAP/CalFresh food benefits delays. It was hosted by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and L.A. County officials.

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Mario Tama

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Getty Images North America

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People receive free food boxes at a November food distribution event hosted by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and L.A. County officials.

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Mario Tama

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Getty Images North America

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Jewish Family Service LA’s food pantries serve about 10,000 households a year, according to Veitzer. He said they added more than 1,000 households since the organization started to see “huge increases” in demand during the same time period.

There was also about a 15% rise in the number of older adults turning to the organization’s senior meal programs for hot lunches every day.

Older adults trying to make ends meet

Jane Jefferies, 70, lives out of her car in the West L.A. area and told LAist the $24 a month she receives for CalFresh was not disrupted during the shutdown. But she regularly relies on senior meal programs and local food banks to stretch that money as far as she can.

“If I run out of money, then I have something extra that I can spend at the market for a meal,” Jefferies said, adding that she typically uses the benefits to buy bananas or a day-old loaf of bread for $1.50.

An 80-year-old woman from Santa Monica, who asked not to be identified, said she lives in low-income senior housing and receives about $140 a month through CalFresh, which covers a little less than half of her monthly food allowance.

She said she felt anxious and uncertain about how she was going to put food on the table if benefits lapsed, especially as food banks can be difficult to access with her mobility, transportation and medical dietary-restrictions.

“This supposedly is one of the richest countries in the world, and yet people are wondering how they're going to eat,” she told LAist. “It's unfortunate that the people like me don't seem to matter.”

Weathering the storm

Communities and local officials stepped up to help ease some pressure on food organizations during the six-week government shutdown, Veitzer and Flood said.

Jewish Family Service LA raised money to give grocery cards to nearly 1,700 people they serve who may be hardest hit by a loss of benefits, for example.

“We couldn't fully offset it, but we were able to provide significant funds to a lot of people to help keep them tied over during the initial part of the freeze,” Veitzer said.

L.A. County committed $12 million to the L.A. Regional Food Bank in recent weeks, Flood said, which translates into about 6 million pounds of food, or roughly 5.5 million meals. County officials made a similar move during the pandemic in 2020.

The food bank also brought on thousands more volunteers over the course of the year, including in the aftermath of January’s wildfires, from around 25,000 to “well above” 30,000 volunteers, according to Flood.

Jewish Family Service LA partners with a few local Costco’s, Gelson’s Markets, Target and Super King locations to pick-up proteins, produce, dry goods and other necessities for people in need. Veitzer calls it the “grocery store rescue process,” and he said they were able to add two more pickups during the shutdown.

“At the end of the day, donations, volunteers aren't going to supplant the core underpinning of the benefits that people rely on,” he said. “But in the breach, it's made a huge difference.”

Looking ahead

Veitzer doesn’t expect to see a drop in demand anytime soon because “so many people in Los Angeles are financially struggling.”

“They're not making it, and there's no extra give in their systems,” he said. “And so it doesn't take much for a person to end up unable to pay rent, or unable to pay car insurance, or unable to buy food or medicine.”

Veitzer said people have already signed up for future food pantry visits through Jewish Family Service LA’s app.

“So they are anticipating coming back to the pantries even after the SNAP benefits get reinstated,” he said.

The organization is also preparing to more than double the number of Thanksgiving meals it distributes this year from around 800 to 900 households to more than 2,000.

Flood said the financial pressures people face with the high cost of living in L.A. County leads to continually high demand for food assistance, and it’s challenging for organizations to try and fill that “hunger gap” — even without a government shutdown.

“It does feel like we're always kind of chasing, you know, sort of a higher demand that we're doing everything we can to try to fill,” Flood said.