After CalFresh disruption, county contracts with Redwood Empire Food Bank and approves $60,000 in emergency food aid

Lake County’s social services and an ad‑hoc food‑insecurity working group briefed the board on emergency actions after a delayed CalFresh issuance affected residents’ ability to purchase food. The county had previously authorized $80,000 in one‑time emergency funding; staff moved quickly to contract with Redwood Empire Food Bank to boost supply to Clear Lake Gleaners and local partner pantries, and to order Meals‑Ready‑to‑Eat (MREs) and transit passes for people facing transportation barriers.

What happened: The county activated an ad‑hoc work group and placed expedited orders; the food‑bank partner agreed to front the inventory and bill the county. Volunteers, county staff and nonprofit partners reported unprecedented demand at distributions the week of the disruption. Gleaners and partner pantries reported turning families away because lines and volumes exceeded pre‑existing capacity.

Board action: The board approved an additional $60,000 in temporary funding (three weekly allocations of $20,000 each) to extend pantry capacity through the holidays. Staff withdrew a proposed disaster declaration after confirming that the state disaster food branch would not provide additional food‑box resources for this particular type of interruption; CDSS and federal guidance were reviewed and staff said they will pursue any eligible federal reimbursement options identified by state partners.

Next steps: Staff will distribute funds through Redwood Empire Food Bank to identified local pantry partners and continue weekly partner coordination. Staff will seek potential federal or state reimbursement channels and return with an accounting and recommendations for shelf‑stock MRE procurement and distribution monitoring.