Yolo County activates emergency food distributions as now-longest government shutdown drags on

Yolo County started a series of emergency food distributions on Wednesday in response to a pause in CalFresh payments amid the ongoing government shutdown.

The county Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) and the Yolo Food Bank have teamed up to get the extra food out. On Wednesday, the first emergency distribution was held at the HHSA Center in Woodland.

"We have about 60 distributions throughout the county every month but we felt like we needed to add some extra opportunities for CalFresh recipients to get additional food," said Genevieve Pyeatt, with the Yolo Food Bank.

In California, 5.5 million people have seen no money loaded onto their CalFresh cards this first week of November.

In Yolo County alone nearly 28,000 people rely on SNAP benefits through CalFresh payments. It total