We Help in Long Beach provides food assistance to individuals and families seeking nearby food resources

Getting through the month has become a challenge for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of individuals in Los Angeles County. With the rising cost of housing, transportation, and utilities, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to budget for essentials like nutritious food and medical bills.

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank works with its vast Partner Agency Network of more than 600 nonprofit organizations, helping 900,000 individuals each month as of December 2023. One of those agencies is We Help in Long Beach.

Hundreds of families line up each Wednesday and Saturday as early as 3 a.m. to get the food they need to help feed themselves and their families. It’s thanks to these distributions that hundreds of clients can be at ease knowing they will have a meal the next day.

Food Pantries That Help When CalFresh Isn’t Enough

Diane Grey seeks additional food assistance from We Help every Saturday. As an older disabled woman, the money she receives on disability and CalFresh just isn’t enough to get her by, so she attends the food pantry’s distribution as a way to get additional food assistance.

She tells everyone she meets about the assistance she gets at We Help and how it can help them, too. 

“If it wasn’t for the Food Bank, what would we do with the little bit of food stamps we get?” Grey said. 

Getting Food Assistance When It’s Needed

Caring for oneself may be an easy task, but once children are brought into play, it makes decision-making much harder. Not only do parents and guardians have to provide a safe place to live, but also provide sustenance for their children. 

It is estimated that 1 in 4 children struggle with food insecurity in Los Angeles County. Maria Lopez is a parent, and going to the We Help food pantry helps her and her son become another statistic. Lopez recently saw a decrease in her work hours, therefore, a decrease in income that she needs to get by. However, Lopez does not change her outlook on life. In addition to providing for herself and her son, she also helps feed her son’s friend, who sometimes looks for food at her home. She has also rescued a rabbit, so vegetables were on her list when attending the We Help food pantry.