Food drive fills gap as benefits restored

Hunger does not have a political affiliation.

In a vacant lot in Mariposa that was once home to the Frost Shop, neighbors and community leaders decided it was simply time to jump in and start feeding people, so they set up a food drive.

For four hours on Sunday, from 10a.m. to 2 p.m., they collected donations and handed out food and essentials, no questions asked.

“A lot of people are very scared and wondering what’s going to happen,” said Jeanne-Ann Pine an organizer of the volunteer effort.

The idea began during a meeting of the Mariposa Business Association, when entrepreneur Xavier Dubois asked urgently, “What can we do now?”

Dubois has been leasing part of the old Frost Shop lot for a planned farmers market. On Sunday, that plan turned into a food drive.

“Right now we need to address the needs and keep politics out of it. People need love and care and we can put aside the political BS for another day. People need food,” Dubois said.

Things quickly fell into place. Adam McLane from the Farm at Worman Mills in Ahwahnee supplied a refrigerated truck, while David Budries, a sound engineer at the Grove House, brought all the tables and pop-ups. Mariposa County Supervisor Jenni Kiser was also on hand.

Dubois admitted there was uncertainty when it was announced that SNAP benefits had been restored on Friday.

“Should we really do it on Sunday? Then it flipped, and flipped again,” he said.

In a whiplash series of events last weekend, food insecurity took on new meaning, as a federal judge ordered payment of SNAP benefits, the U.S. Supreme Court paused the order and the Trump Administration tried to claw back the money that had already gone out.

The legal limbo and uncertainty is expected to continue as the government shutdown enters its seventh week.

Organizers said Sunday’s food bank will continue on Sundays from 10a.m.-2p.m., until SNAP benefits are permanently restored.