L.A. food giveaway draws thousands and runs out of supplies amid surging inflation
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Before the sun even rose, cars began lining up along Baldwin Park Boulevard, where drivers sat waiting patiently for their chance at free groceries when the distribution event began several hours later.Their sense of urgency was warranted.Volunteers started distributing supplies at 8:45 a.m.
Wednesday, and by 11:30 a.m.all 2,000 boxes were gone, according to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.Bumper-to-bumper traffic continued to line the surrounding streets, and scores of people were turned away empty-handed.
“To know that people are lining up as early as 5 o’clock in the morning, because it’s that important to them, tells me that the need is just so great,” said L.A.County Supervisor Hilda Solis, “and it’s unfortunate that we don’t have enough for everybody.”Solis’ office organized Wednesday’s drive-through food distribution as part of a partnership launched last month with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to address growing food insecurity in her district.Although food insecurity is a longstanding problem in L.A.
County, the issue has taken on new urgency as inflation nationwide has surged.On Tuesday, the U.S.government announced that the inflation rate had hit a three-year high in April as the war on Iran raised the cost of energy.
Business Rising gas prices are eating into the profits of gig workers who drop off people or pick up deliveries.Gas prices have spiked by more than $1.50 across the U.S.in just over two months, hitting a national average of $4.50 a gallon and an average of $6.15 a gallon in California, according to the American Automobile Assn.
In April, grocery prices rose by 0.7%, the biggest one month jump in nearly four years, as meat, dairy and produce all saw notable cost increases, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.The latest price jumps are putting additional pressure on the already strained budgets of many hou...