Moms step up to feed families bracing for federal food stamps halt
By Tori Apodaca
Click here for updates on this story
VACAVILLE, California (KOVR) — As federal food aid stops on Nov. 1 due to the ongoing government shutdown, some mothers in Vacaville are stepping up to feed families.
Leeann Rositano posted a photo of her empty fridge on the Facebook group Vaca Moms and said she was down to her last $20 of SNAP food benefits. She feared she would not be able to feed herself or her daughter, Lily.
Her neighbors showed up big and filled her shelves plus stocked her fridge with food.
“I can sleep peacefully now,” Rositano said. “I was worried. I was scared.”
Amanda Stewart saw Rositano’s post and took the food crisis into her own hands. Her inbox was quickly flooded with people needing help and wanting to help.
“Whatever I can do. If I can organize to get families to get fed, then I want to do it,” Stewart said.
Stewart’s mom, Kerry Long, is one of the sponsors who has been shopping for groceries and delivering them to families.
“We don’t want to see our community go hungry,” Long said.
Rositano admitted that at first, she felt embarrassed to post, but she wants others to know it’s ok to ask for help. She said she hopes to give back to people in her same position someday.
“I was so embarrassed, but I am owning my story now,” said Rositano. “I had to do it for my family. I didn’t want her to go hungry.”
Stewart said it really takes a village to feed a village, and she is amazed by how the community has come together. She plans to keep feeding families through the holidays and hopes they can rally enough people to donate other essential items and gifts for the children.
“The idea of kids not having food or families not having food, it breaks my heart,” Steward said.
This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate partner and does not contain original CNN reporting.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.