FOOD RELIEF AVAILABLE TO THOSE WHO LOST POWER
OROVILLE » Getting the power shut off over the weekend caused long lines for free food Monday morning in Oroville.
The Community Action Agency of Butte County organized an emergency food distribution in response to PG&E’s planned power shut- offs to much of the Oroville area starting Saturday. Residents who lost power over the weekend came to the Lower Wyandotte area Monday morning. They received basic items like produce (mandarins, apples, potatoes), canned meat and beans, pasta, frozen meat and Farm to Family boxes with assorted produce, milk and eggs.
Community Services Manager Tom Dearmore said the event had to begin earlier than expected when volunteers saw how long the line of people waiting for free food at the Southside Community Center had become.
“Anytime there’s a power shut- off we will try to do a direct food distribution somewhere near where the shutoff is within three days of the power being restored,” Dearmore said.
The distribution was a last minute effort on top of the usual weekly food distributions as typically, “We get notifications from PG& E prior to any of the ( public safety power shut- off) events. This one was a little different in that it was just (due to) a repair; it wasn’t to prevent a fire.”
“We’ve heard a lot of comments from the public that these folks are living in the margins, and if they lose their power for a while, a lot of foodstuff they have goes bad,” he added.
Dearmore added the distribution, like others, was open to any who are in need at the moment and was not limited to only those directly affected by the shut- off. As with other tailgate food events, “If they line up they can have it.”
This is in part due to a large uptick in demand after the North Complex fires and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dearmore confirmed. In 2019 after the Camp Fire the agency distributed 1.2 million pounds of food, and by contrast this month marks 2 million pounds distributed in 2020, he said.
“A lot of people are caught off guard,” he said. “We’ve had to pivot and adjust after each of these events because the demand has been different each time”
For anyone who missed this distribution, there are events almost every day for the next ten days in December at multiple locations around Butte County. Anyone can access the current calendar online on the agency’s website, buttecca. com. Participants selfcertify at time of distribution in their area, on a first come, first serve basis.
For more information, call 712-2600 Opt. 3.
“Anytime there’s a power shut-off we will try to do a direct food distribution somewhere near where the shut-off is within three days of the power being restored.”
— Community Services Manager Tom Dearmore