Sitting behind the wheel of his truck, Noé Camero, a man disabled to work, closed his eyes and hands in gratitude to the leaders and volunteers of the charitable organization Hurting and Hungry Charities in the area from Leimert Park.
Camero had just received from the organization a box of food, new tennis shoes for him and his daughter Kairy Abigail.
“God bless you; thank you for this gift, ”said Noé, a Guatemalan from 65 years that he attended the call of the charity led by Pastor William D. Smart Jr., a member of the Southern California Christian Leadership Conference.
Noe commented that for nine years he was disabled to work, due to a rare disease that he could not explain.
“I no longer work and I barely live on my pension,” he said. “They give me $ 1, 041 monthly and that is barely enough for me to survive and help my daughter with her school. ”
Noé is just one of thousands of Latinos who are suffering from food insecurity, which increased during the pandemic of the coronavirus.
In fact, since before the pandemic, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank has seen the number of people receiving food tripled each month, from 300, 000 to 800, 000, according to official agency data.
The demand for food assistance remains incredibly high and we believe that the economic impact of the pandemic will last for many months and possibly years, as the recovery will take some time, as we saw with the Great Recession, ”said Roger Castle, director of development at Banco Regional de Food, to Real America News.
Castle indicated that food insecurity increased significantly in different communities.
“Before the pandemic, surveys showed that 1 in 5 people needed help. That number increased almost overnight to 1 in 4. We saw people who had never needed food assistance turn to our partner agencies and our emergency distribution centers, ”he said.
Hunger affects everyone
“I barely have a week to go back to work,” said Mikeal Wahhab, A clothing store clerk who came to the Leimert Park site to order tennis shoes for himself and his wife Antoinette, and their children Kyra, Karina, Luther, and Lenise.
“I don’t have money yet to buy them new shoes and they have returned to school, ”said this man, who, in addition to the need for food, makes an effort to leave the shelter in the city of Inglewood as soon as possible.
Mikeal, his wife and his four children have lived for more than half a year in the shelter. He lost his job during the pandemic and they were evicted from the apartment where they lived. Antoinette is a housewife.
“I couldn’t pay the $ 750 monthly charges that they charged us and we had to go live in the shelter, “he told this newspaper.
Pastor William D. Smart Jr., gave learn that, through Hurting and Hungry Charities, the organization was able to get some 350 new pairs of tennis shoes for children, adolescents and adults, which were donated by the Von Dutch company, a company that manufactures caps, clothing, accessories and footwear.
“The campaign of poor and suffering people dates from 1978; we have been doing tasks like this because we know there is a hunger problem; people come with us because we can help alleviate this problem and we have to continue to do so ”, he added. “We cannot let any African American or Latino child go to sleep with an empty stomach.”
The pastor assured that Latinos and African Americans represent the poorest families and the that their food needs are greater.
“Unfortunately people of color are always affected in all negative statistics, be it food, homelessness, health, murder rate… and everything that devastates our communities, ”said Pastor William D. Smart Jr.
The food bank estimates that one in four people in Los Angeles County experience Food insecurity, defined as the uncertainty to obtain food, according to the organization Ayuda en Acción.
Another of the families in need is Brígida Cruz, a woman of Mexican origin who works in a hospital cleaning.
“The food is already very and expensive and in the marketa everything went up in price ” complained Brígida, a resident of the city of South Gate. “Imagine, my husband and I have to raise four children and the salaries are not enough. ”
She earned an average of $ 800 to $ 1000 weekly before the pandemic, but now many hours of work have been reduced, and her husband is “paid very little”. He also works in cleaning, but gets half of what she earns.
However, Brígida appreciated the charity received.
“A Sometimes there is not enough cereal, milk, bread or water, but this help is welcome. ”
Elmer Canias, a Guatemalan from 53 years old, who lives in North Hollywood and received help with food for her two children and his wife Claudia.
“I live reality; I have a salary that is not enough for me to buy a house, but I feel blessed because everywhere I meet good people, and I give thanks to the people who have given me a box of food. ”
Roger Castle agreed with Pastor William D. Smart Jr., stating that food insecurity disproportionately affects underserved and high-risk populations, including very low-income individuals and families, the elderly, the immigrant communities and communities of color.
“The pandemic hit these groups especially hard. For those who were already struggling to survive, the pandemic pushed many more into poverty, “he stressed.
” The Food Bank responded to this crisis by providing targeted hunger relief to underserved communities through our direct distributions and our network of more than 700 partner agencies. ”