SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- With thousands of families struggling to afford food, San Diego County leaders are demanding that the federal government immediately restore funding for CalFresh benefits that were not reloaded onto EBT cards over the weekend.

Roughly 400,000 San Diego County residents rely on CalFresh — California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — for food assistance. The federal shutdown halted the distribution of benefits nationwide, leaving food banks across the county overwhelmed.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to send an emergency letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture urging the release of SNAP contingency funds.

Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, who co-authored the measure with Supervisor Paloma Aguirr

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