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New Chico Organization Provides Weekly Meals For Needy

 

When 35-year-old Jae Major woke up one morning a few weeks ago, all she had in her new apartment was instant oatmeal. Unemployed, she had no money and a hungry son to feed. So, like many people in a bind, she began looking for help.

“Last night going to bed, I kept thinking in my head, I was like ‘What am I gonna do for lunch and dinner?’” she said.

 

That’s when she discovered Food-For-All, a new, faith-based organization founded on the idea that everyone has the right to a good meal.

 

Since the organization opened its doors earlier this year, every Wednesday, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Church on the Esplanade, volunteers distribute bags of food, filled with ingredients along with instructions to prepare a meal capable of feeding a family of five.

  

“The goal is to provide access to healthy food for anybody who comes in,” said Jeremy Rhodes, a pastor of Fusion Church and one of the founders of Food-For-All. “I believe that sometimes poverty will inevitably lead to eating in an unhealthy way.”

 

Families began lining up an hour before Food-For-All opened. First in line was 22-year-old Butte College student Chantal Barboza.

 

“Well, I know the money situation is on a tight budget with us, and me trying to find a job in Chico is like difficult, it’s been like almost a year,” Barboza said.

 

She currently lives with her mother and says that at times her three-bedroom apartment houses up to six. Barboza said her mother relies on food banks to feed her children.

 

According to its organizers, the number of Food-For-All’s patrons grow in number every week, and as word spreads about the program, it is unlikely to slow down. 

 

According to recent census data nearly a quarter of Chico residents live below the poverty line. And without assistance, Food-For-All may not be able to achieve its goals.

 

The obstacles in growth mainly is funding,” Pastor Rhodes said. “We don’t have enough money to do what we’re doing now. We are running, with our start-up funds, we’re running a deficit. But we saw the need, and we can’t stop. So we do need additional funding to keep going.”

 

For many of the participating families, including Jae Major and her son, Food-For-All is an important lifeline.

 

If you work and are able to work and afford your lifestyle comfortably and obviously you don’t need this, but there’s a lot of people who can’t,” Major said. “It’s a huge relief off my shoulders to know that my kid is not hungry right now. So for now, until I can get a job, I need this. I need this.”

 

For more information on the program, visit their website at Chicofoodforall.org.