One hundred volunteers from Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and Labor Community Services (LCS) teamed up at the LCS Warehouse in Bell, CA on June 7 to sort through more than 1.8 million pounds of food donations collected through the 32nd Annual National Association of Letter Carriers’ (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.
On Thursday, May 30, Community Partners held a special event at Alma Backyard Farms in Compton to celebrate community-based groups who received federally funded L.A. County grants to help in their work combating food insecurity in Southern California.
The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank serves 900,00 people every month in partnership with more than 500 agencies, and this year, the food bank is expecting more significant food needs. They are sounding the alarm, and the food bank needs your help.
Yet for nearly 5 million adults and 2 million children across California, Thanksgiving is another day spent deciding between paying bills and buying food; another day when cabinets are empty, tables are bare and stomachs are growling. Extreme hunger is something millions of our neighbors face on a daily basis – not just around the holiday season.
Food insecurity in Los Angeles County has been steadily rising since 2021 even as our local economy slowly recovers from the impact of COVID. According to a new USC research study, some three in ten households in greater Los Angeles experienced food insecurity this year. That figure marks a 6 percent increase from 2022. From a national perspective, on average, 10.2 percent of people in the U.S. experience low food security, however, 19.8 percent of Black Americans experience low food security. To break it down further, 3.8 percent of people in the U.S. experience very low food security, however, 7.9% of Black
Essential services for our community are at risk, and it’s up to us to save them.
Multiple organizations receive funding to help health workers in communities hard hit by COVID-19.
– A group effort must be taken to not shift the burden –
On his first day, just hours after taking the oath of office, President Biden signed a host of executive orders – one of them aimed at ensuring racial equity. “It is, therefore, the policy of my administration that the federal government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality” President Biden proclaimed.
We knew many of our fellow Angelenos worked on the margins of the previously healthy economy, but that reality didn’t hit home until we saw reports that less than half of adults in Los Angeles County had a job post pandemic. We all probably had at least heard that minorities had worse health outcomes than white Americans, but perhaps that didn’t really register until statistics about the shockingly high death rates of black and Latinos from Covid-19 became reality.
SCLC is planning a new Poor People’s Campaign focused on empowerment, education and food for those in poverty.
Dr. Kevin Williams, the chief medical officer for Pfizer Rare Disease, addressed the conference during a Pfizer-hosted breakfast presentation titled, “African Americans and Heart Disease – New Research Breakthrough: Announcing 2020 Partnership between Pfizer and NNPA.” At a later session titled “Future of Medicaid and Medicare: Healthy You, Healthy Us – What is Managed Care and How Does It Advance Health Equity,” AmeriHealth Caritas officials said it was important to gain a greater understanding of the different ways managed care organizations address key social disparities.