Samaritan House distributes food for Thanksgiving

That line is indicative of the increased need Samaritan House is seeing. Currently, the basic needs nonprofit is receiving 50 new clients a week, Bent said, due in part to the area’s high cost of living, as well as uncertainty around and upcoming cuts to federal social services programs. 

For Thanksgiving, however, Samaritan House clients will have everything they need to make the holiday a delicious celebration, she said. 

“This is all about families getting everything that they need to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, the way that all of our families want to enjoy Thanksgiving,” Bent said. 

The Thanksgiving pantry, which is stocked with holiday staples like cranberry sauce, stuffing and gravy, will be open to Samaritan House clientele through next Tuesday. Anyone who isn’t a registered Samaritan House client can still come in to receive food, Bent emphasized — the nonprofit does first-time emergency food assistance for newcomers, and then assists them in signing up for programs. 

“We want to make sure you get the resources that we have available for everything that you might need,” she said. 

For Ramona Trujillo, who has been participating in Samaritan House programs for two years, the services are especially helpful as she raises her two children — a son, 5, and a daughter, 2. 

“The food they gave us, it helps us a lot,” she said. “Right now everything is so expensive. Every time you go to the store, it’s more than $100.” 

Rather than a favorite Thanksgiving food, Trujillo said she was mostly prioritizing grabbing diapers and wipes for her children. Aside from food, Samaritan House has a number of products for families and babies. 

Burlingame Mayor Peter Stevenson volunteered at the event alongside other local city councilmembers. While food assistance programs like the one Samaritan House runs are vital, the number of individuals in need of food assistance this holiday season shows that the county, one of the wealthiest in the nation, has more work to do, he said. 

“We’re a very affluent county in many ways, but we have a lot of people that are living at or below the poverty line,” he said. “[Food assistance] is a safety net for our population to make sure our entire community is taken care of, but at the same time, it’s a message that we’ve got more work to do. Because the reality is, we shouldn’t have people living below the poverty line.”