By Crystal Jimenez
KESQ Reporter
The pandemic has but many people through financial binds, with many unable to afford daily necessities like food. FIND Food Bank (FFB) is continuing to help thousands of people and their families be able to have food in the fridge while having to pay other important bills.
Jose Guzman, a Coachella resident, lost his job after it closed down mid-pandemic. Guzman lives with his mother and sister, and since then has been trying to make things work out. He is grateful that FFB has been able to provide him with groceries so his family doesn’t go hungry for the last year and a half.
Guzman said that if he didn’t have access to getting food from FFB, he would have gone hungry a long time ago.
The pandemic has brought many people a whirlwind of problems, and just one of those has been keeping the fridge full of food. FFB became a lifeline for many Coachella Valley residents as they try to keep up with work, pay bills, and mouths fed.
“A lot of people realize that FIND Food Bank distributes to over 150-thousand people on average every month,” explained Debbie Espinosa, FFB’s President/CEO. “But what a lot of people don’t realize is that that 24 million pound translates to $46.6 million that we’re saving the community who are food insecure.”
Espinosa continued by saying that by not having to pay for the food on the table, people are able to use those funds to pay other important bills, like electricity, gas, and childcare.
Thanya Thomas, another Coachella resident, homeschools her daughter and hasn’t worked since the pandemic started. The food she receives from the food bank helps her family, who only receives one income in the household.
“As we all know food prices have been going up and you know pay stays the same,” said Thomas. “In our family household it’s just one person working, it will create a hardship.”
During the pandemic, Thomas even helped others in her same situation get food. She said she would collect several boxes from the food bank and take them to her friends who didn’t have transportation.
While FIND Food Bank has helped through the entire pandemic, the work continues as many people face new hardships. That is the growing prices of gas, groceries, and other household necessities.
FIND Food Bank will continue to help its community recover financially.
You can find your nearest Mobile Food Market and distribution times on the FIND Food Bank website.
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