Food stamp cuts that took effect this month will make Thanksgiving even harder than usual for low-income San Diegans.
A typical Thanksgiving meal will cost the average family nearly $50 this year, which is far beyond reach for the nearly half-million people in San Diego County who struggle every day to put food on the table — especially the 270,000 people who depend on food stamps for meals. Federal food benefits were cut Nov. 1 by $36 per month for a family of four.
“Coming to a meal like this for free is really helping out a lot of those families that just can’t afford to put together a real thanksgiving,” said Herb Johnson, president and CEO of the San Diego Rescue Mission.
The Rescue Mission is one of several charities in San Diego serving a Thanksgiving feast to people in need. Theirs happened to be over the weekend.
Johnson said they set the table for 1,800 — several hundred more than last year. He said their emergency shelter for women and children is a good indicator of the growing number of struggling families.
“In the past year, we’ve seen probably about a 75 to 100 percent increase in the number of mothers and children,” Johnson said.
Johnson said people always like to open up their hearts and volunteer to serve a meal on Thanksgiving, but he emphasized they serve 500,000 meals each year.
“So there’s meal services here every single day and there are opportunities to volunteer all year long,” Johnson said.
Other charities serving Thanksgiving meals include the volunteer group Just Call Us. They’ll be providing a feast to people at the San Diego Homeless Shelter and Veterans Shelter on Thanksgiving Day.
San Diego Meals On Wheels plans to deliver 2,000 meals to seniors on Thanksgiving Day.
