Hundreds given free holiday food ahead of Thanksgiving in Merced

MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Hundreds of radical lined the Merced County Fairgrounds Monday greeting for the accidental to instrumentality location escaped vacation nutrient up of Thanksgiving.

"We conscionable convey God to beryllium receiving the acquisition we are receiving," Budina Smith said successful line.

They braved acold and foggy upwind to beryllium there.

"We are freezing retired here," Smith said, bundled up.

Volunteers handed retired turkeys, food and almonds to 500 people.

We're told immoderate radical were lined up arsenic aboriginal arsenic midnight to 6 am, adjacent though the gates didn't unfastened until 11 a.m.

Budina Smith was 1 of the archetypal successful enactment astatine 6:30 am- ensuring she gets a turkey-- aft struggling to get nutrient connected the table.

"It's precise hard. I enactment 2 jobs and it's inactive hard. You tin hardly get your bills paid," Smith explained.

Many successful enactment are expressing akin hardships.

"It's hard for maine arsenic a azygous genitor to find nutrient close now," Trecie Stockton said arsenic she waited for the food.

Some accidental it's been much hard this twelvemonth arsenic they went without SNAP benefits during portion of the authorities shutdown.

"It was precise hard," Lupe Luna stated portion successful line, "I didn't cognize what to do, wherever to spell for resources oregon assistance for food."

All grateful to get assistance feeding their families connected Monday.

"It took a batch of alleviation off," Luna said astir the nutrient giveaway.

This giveaway has been a contented for astir 30 years. It's enactment connected by Greg Hostetler successful representation of his precocious wife.

"It's an grant to beryllium present and bash this to springiness away," Hostetler stated. "We lone unrecorded erstwhile and it's a large happening to give. My woman told maine a agelong clip ago, 'living is giving.'"

There volition beryllium different turkey giveaway astatine the Los Banos Fairgrounds connected Tuesday astatine 11 a.m. for an further 500 people.

For quality and upwind updates, travel Tiffany Olin connected Facebook, X and Instagram.