Visalia Emergency Aid Council sees an uptick in families seeking services last week

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- For astir a century, the Visalia Emergency Aid Council has helped supply nutrient and household items to assemblage members successful need.

Executive Director Mary Jennings has been moving for the enactment for 25 years.

It's 1 of the oldest non-profits successful Tulare County.

"And our ngo has ever been the same, and that is to instrumentality attraction of the homes and the families surviving successful Tulare County. We guarantee that nary location is nutrient insecure, we tin assistance with household items, clothing, bully shoes and lukewarm coats during the winter," says Jennings.

Daily, the non-profit serves betwixt 80 to 100 families.

That fig much than doubled past week.

Families did not person their SNAP benefits owed to the authorities shutdown.

"So past week, ideate being a household of 4 raising children and the archetypal of the period comes and that wealth you were expecting to bargain your groceries doesn't come, and what bash you do? Luckily, we were present and our numbers astir doubled," explains Jennings.

"It brought a batch of radical into our pantry that didn't cognize we were here, and families that could beryllium utilizing america connected a regular basis," continues Jennings.

The nutrient pantry focuses connected serving nutritious foods and helping individuals successful the area.

"I tin wage bills, enactment gasoline successful my vehicle, insurances, and things similar that, I tin wage bills, etc.," says Daniel Quintana, a Visalia Emergency Aid Council client.

Each month, the enactment serves anyplace betwixt 12 to 14 100 families.

That is 4-thousand to 5-thousand individuals, and their scope continues to expand.

"We started a programme wherever we are going into a mates of schools, and really distributing astatine the schoolhouse sites, truthful we bash astir 1500 families a month," mentions Jennings.

Community members tin assistance by hosting a nutrient drive, giving their clip oregon monetary donations oregon joining their Race against Hunger, which is simply a 5k and 2k that happens each Thanksgiving morning.

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