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(KRON) — SNAP benefits, also known as Cal Fresh, will end Saturday due to the ongoing government shutdown. Now, several restaurants in the Bay Area are stepping up to help families affected.
KRON4 brings you this report on where you can take your SNAP card to get a free meal.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has warned that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will end Nov. 1 if Congress doesn’t act to end the government shutdown. About 42 million Americans rely on those benefits. Here in the Bay Area, restaurant owners want to do their part to help.
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Al Pastor Papi opened in San Francisco’s downtown this summer through the city’s Vacant to Vibrant Program.
“We used to be a food truck,” explained owner Miguel Escobedo.
Escobedo takes pride in the business that offers Mexico City-inspired Mexican Food. When he heard that SNAP benefits would end Saturday, if the shutdown doesn’t end, he decided to come up with a way to help by offering four free burritos a week to families who rely on SNAP for meals.
“Some burritos for families that brings their ID and SNAP card, until this thing is over,” he said.
Al Pastor Papi is not the only Bay Area restaurant offering meals to people on food assistance. Chef Eric Rivera at Puerto Rican Street Cuisine in Oakland will start offering free empanadas with rice or beans to children 12 and younger.
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“We feed you the way my mom would feed you if you come to my house. What we did is a miniaturized version of that and that’s really what the kid’s meal is all about,” said Rivera.
Word has gotten around in his community to people like Wayne Sanders, who receives SNAP benefits. He stopped by Puerto Rican Street Cuisine on Tuesday to show his support for the restaurant offering help.
“People are scared, people are improvising it, or winging it as I say, people are just going for what they know, some people are desperate,” said Sanders.
At least six other restaurant owners in the Bay Area have also offered to help families in some way. Escobedo says it’s not about the recognition but about keeping his community fed.
“It’s been my personal belief that my business should always help back and help back to the community that’s made us,” said Escobedo.
Most of the Bay Area restaurants offering free meals will start doing so Nov. 1, but Escobedo says he will honor the free offer the rest of the week to customers with SNAP cards asking for help.
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Rob Nesbitt
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