San Mateo County Board of Supervisors OK one-time grant toward food aid

The purpose of the grant is to help mitigate food insecurity in the county, a concern that has grown as public food assistance has been halted for the month of November.

Amid the ongoing government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Agriculture under President Donald Trump said it couldn’t roll out this month’s payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food assistance for millions of low-income Americans.

However, two federal district judges have made rulings stating that the USDA must use its contingency funds to continue supporting SNAP payments. As of Monday, the Trump administration has agreed to partially support SNAP, but that those payments “will take several weeks” to roll out, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a social media post Monday.

“People are in desperate need of food right now,” Supervisor Noelia Corzo said at Tuesday’s board meeting. Corzo sponsored the resolution to approve the grant.

St. Vincent de Paul of San Mateo County provides meals for unhoused people and other groups in need at its Homeless Help Center at 50 N. B St. in the city of San Mateo. The grant will allow the center to provide an additional 2,600 meals on weekdays.

The bulk of the grant will go toward providing groceries for families with children in supervisorial District 2, which Corzo represents. District 2 includes parts of San Mateo, Foster City and Belmont.

Grocery distribution will focus on families with children who won’t have access to school lunches during school breaks, such as Thanksgiving.

The grant comes from funds through Measure K, a 2016 sales tax approved by voters that generates revenue for supporting critical needs in the county such as emergency preparedness, housing, and resources for youth, families and seniors. Measure K funds are divided equally among the five supervisorial districts for each budget cycle.

Board President David Canepa, Supervisor Lisa Gauthier and Corzo approved the grant. Supervisor Jackie Speier abstained, and Supervisor Ray Mueller was absent at Tuesday’s meeting.