Who We Serve

Children in Need

When people think of those who need food assistance, they often forget that one in six children in the U.S. lives at or below the poverty line. Thirty percent of the meals distributed by River City Food Bank support the nutritional needs of children. For children in particular, poor nutrition comes at a tremendous cost; inadequate nutrition affects their ability to learn and succeed at school. Food insecurity has also been linked to obesity and health problems, since the food that is cheapest and most available is often the poorest in terms of nutritional benefit.

Summer is the most vulnerable time for children, because many school breakfast and school lunch programs are not available. RCFB receives more requests for food assistance for children during the summer months than at any other time during the year.

Working Poor

When people volunteer for River City Food Bank, we often show them a video program called “Faces of Hunger.” The video proves the point that hunger isn’t what you think. In many cases, for example, those who come to us in need have jobs, but they are no longer making it. Many are mothers caring for children. They face the terrible choice of keeping a roof over their family’s head and the utilities on, or having enough healthy food on the table at the end of the month.

Here are just a few examples of the people who have needed a little help getting by:

• Jasmine Bess, a seven-year DMV employee, found that she ran out of money for food after her third Furlough Friday. Without help, she couldn’t provide meals for her nine-year-old daughter.
• Jon, a masonry craftsman, had always been able to provide for his family of five, but he was down to 14 hours a week of work. Of course, he was scrambling for any form of job that could pull in some money, but finding little in the building industry collapse.

Only a small percentage of those who seek food assistance have no income at all, and one out of three has some form of employment related income. Many are working poor families whose incomes haven’t kept up with rising expenses. If something happens, like an unexpected health expense, they may not have enough money left to buy adequate food. We see that all the time.

Seniors and Disabled

A growing number of River City Food Bank’s clients are seniors – some of our most vulnerable neighbors who lost their small nest eggs in the current economic crisis and have no way to recover.

In 2009, California’s Social Security Income/State Supplementary Payment program was cut three different times.  The program payments augment federal Social Security, which is especially important in California’s higher cost economy.  According to the California Budget Project, the purchasing power of these payments has been losing ground over the past two decades.

Seniors are often poorer than federal statistics suggest.  While one quarter of seniors were reported to have family incomes below 150% of the federal poverty line as of July 2008, the number didn’t account for healthcare costs, which are a substantial – and life-saving – expense for many seniors.  We talk to many elderly clients who skip medications and medical care, and cut back on food, to keep a roof over their heads.  According to an analysis released in February 2009 by University of California, Los Angeles, seniors living at the federal poverty level only have enough money to cover half of their most basic costs such as housing, utilities, medical care – and food.

Elderly women are far more likely to be poor than men. Thirteen percent of women over 75 years old are poor, compared to 6% of men. Women end up poorer due to a lifetime pay gap compared to men, occupational choices with lower pay scales, and time spent out of the workforce raising children or caring for elderly parents.