Yolo County Children’s Alliance holds annual Community Giveaway Day in West Sacramento – Daily Democrat

The Yolo County Children’s Alliance distributed new winter coats, blankets and Thanksgiving meal kits during its 17th Annual Community Giveaway Day in West Sacramento.

The event Saturday morning – which took place at the YCCA Resource Center located at 1200 Anna St. in West Sacramento – distributed food and resources to hundreds of families, according to YCCA Executive Director Jeneba Lahai.

“We’re expecting anywhere between 600 to 900 families,” Lahai emphasized during the event.

She added that the organization was shocked to see how many people had attended the event this year.

“I’ve never seen this before,” Lahai said about the number of families attending the event. “When we were leaving last night at 5 pm, we already had cars lined up. I got here at 6 am this morning and the block was already full.”

She noted that the organization had enough food for 650 families totaling 28,000 pounds and had 2,000 jackets to give away during the event.

“We wish we had more resources for more but unfortunately we can only give out 2,000 coats this year because of how expensive it is to run this event,” Lahai said. “Coats are expensive…so when we’re asking for money, it’s usually going to events like this.”

Lahai also noted that the resource center is located in the Bryte and Broderick community, which has been disenfranchised for years and is considered a food desert due to the lack of access to fresh food.

“What we are trying to do is bring more resources into this community,” Lahai highlighted. “The families are used to coming here for services and it’s a familiar space.”

Lahai stressed the importance of events like this because of the impact the pandemic, rent increases and inflation are having on Yolo County families.

“Households are barely surviving,” Lahai explained. “Every time rent increases, that means that more money has to go towards keeping your shelter and less money into actually getting needed items.”

Lahai added that YCCA has noticed a significant increase in reliability on its weekly food distributions since the start of the pandemic with upwards of 300 cars visiting the resource center for food every Friday.

That’s why Lahai said she appreciates the support from the Yolo Food Bank, which was the main sponsor for the event and provided the Thanksgiving meal kits for families.

Karen Baker, executive director for the Yolo Food Bank, stressed the importance of partnering with local organizations like YCCA to be able to distribute food to where it’s needed most.

“That way we’re getting the people that are closest to the community handing out the food and getting the resources out there,” Baker explained. “No one should have to drive all the way to Woodland when they’ve got such a strong partner right here.”

Baker said the food bank has seen a 155% increase in demand for this kind of service because people have been having a hard time adjusting to the economic hurdles caused by the pandemic and inflation.

“What they need is community organizations like YCCA and the Yolo Food Bank to work collaboratively together with wonderful volunteers to get the product that community members need and deserve,” Baker remarked.

Additionally, the Yolo Food Bank held a food distribution Saturday at the Yolo County Fairgrounds in Woodland to distribute food to local families prior to Thanksgiving.

“This week we’re getting out over 2,200 meals for households so it’s an incredible effort that’s all made possible because of the over 400 volunteers that helped pack and then distribute that food,” she highlighted.

Maria Garcia, a West Sacramento resident who attended the event, said she comes to the resource center every Friday for the food distribution event.

“Every week they give us food and it’s very beneficial that they help the community,” Garcia said in Spanish. “I thank God for all the help that they give and the farmers that grow the food for us.”

Garcia added that she appreciates the work the YCCA is doing to provide much-needed resources to the community’s children.

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