Roseville to Cameron Park, the shutdown's impact is filling food lines, not grocery carts
Roseville, Calif.- The recent government shutdown may be behind us, but the ripple effects are still moving through our community. When CalFresh benefits stalled, more than 55,000 people across Placer, El Dorado, and Nevada counties were left in limbo. That's 34,000 households trying to stretch groceries that were never meant to last this long.
Working Families Impacted
You could see the strain in our PantryToGo lines throughout November. At our Roseville distribution, we usually serve about 800 households. Last month, we saw 1,500. Families waited patiently in cars packed with car seats, work uniforms, backpacks, and grocery lists they hoped to fill. In total, 5,000 to 6,000 people received food at this location. More than 1,000 were visiting us for the first time.
Cameron Park saw one of the sharpest spikes. On November 6, our team served 389 households. That's nearly double a normal day. Ninety-eight of those families had never asked for help before. When we counted every person in each car and each walk-up line, the total reached 1,223 individuals, including 348 people who were brand new to us.
Many carried a version of the same story. They had steady jobs, mortgages, and reliable routines. Their kids played sports and their dogs barked from the back seats. These weren't families living on the margins. They were families living ordinary lives, until a delay in CalFresh or a missing paycheck pushed the ground out from under them. Because they were already barely making it as is.
Moments like this remind us how thin the line can be between stability and crisis. A shutdown in Washington may feel far away, but its impact shows up on kitchen tables right here at home. When benefits stall, there is no cushion for many households. Groceries run out. Budgets snap. Parents go without so their kids can eat.
This is the changing face of hunger throughout the Foothills. It isn't defined by a single income level or circumstance. Hunger reaches people with jobs, cars, and homes. It reaches neighbors you sit next to at work or wave to in the school pickup line. And when federal systems falter, local communities feel it first.
As we move through the holiday season, I'm asking our region to stay close to one another. The needs we saw in November were real, and they are not over. Your support can help families steady themselves as they wait for back pay and CalFresh benefits to catch up before the holidays and for life to feel predictable again.
Donating
If you're able, please give through ABC10's Stand Against Hunger campaign. Every gift helps us keep food flowing during a time when so many are feeling the strain. Donate at abc10.com/standagainsthunger, text ACTNOW to 50155, or give directly at donate.feedingthefoothills.org.
Your generosity brings relief when uncertainty takes hold. And it tells every family in our lines that their community has not forgotten them.