Hundreds of families receive grocery bags at a drive-thru food distribution in SELA

The rain on Friday morning didn’t stop a group of people from providing donations of food to hundreds of needy families in the Southeast L.A. (SELA) area. Since dawn, dozens of cars started lining up outside of the Hub Cities in South Gate to get bags of groceries. 

Some vehicles included multiple households, such as Martha Galán, who arrived with her daughter Martha Sandoval. Galán said she is caring for her three grandchildren from another daughter and Sandoval said she has three kids at home. 

Both were very appreciative of the food donation, especially Galán, who said she was laid off due to the current immigration raids. 

“I’m fearful of this situation. Now it’s different because I’m taking care of my grandchildren who are also suffering and I have to provide,” said Galán. 

A few cars behind, another mother and daughter, Teresa Martinez and Lorena Martinez, received their boxes of food. 

Teresa Martinez, who is 72, said this help is exactly what she needs now at a time when money is tight.

“Thank you so much to all the people helping,” she said.

The SELA region drive-thru food distribution was spearheaded by the SELA Collaborative and the YMCA. Once word got out, several partners stepped in, including as AltaMed, Hub Cities, COFEM, Assemblymember José Luis Solache Jr. and Senator Lena A. Gonzalez. 

Wilma Franco, executive director of the SELA Collaborative, said it was very exciting to see the donation drive come to life as they planned it in less than a week. She said she was aware of the need in the area, mainly when the EBT and SNAP benefits were in limbo for many low income families while the federal government was shut down. 

Franco said it is concerning to know that families are in much need of food and basic necessities and there are not enough resources available. 

“What you see here is a partnership with the YMCA, who is one of the founding members of the SELA Collaborative, but also the only organization that I am aware of that has received resources,” she said. 

YMCA donated pallets of food, and Franco contacted elected officials and a local group of promotoras to volunteer their time and help in the distribution. 

Senator Gonzalez, who helped coordinate crowd control along with the South Gate Police Department, said she’s thankful with the local organizations that are helping, mainly now as we approach the holidays. She said after the Trump administration started making cuts in several areas like programs for education, health care and food, the state of California has stepped up by  providing funding to the L.A. Regional Food Bank.

“Many of those hubs are in downtown LA and you have to meet people where they are at,” she said. “That’s why Dr. Franco and SELA and our office teamed up together.”

Promotoras available when needed

By the end of the food distribution, the group of volunteers, including several promotoras, celebrated another accomplishment of work to better their communities.

Irma Lopez, a promotora for nearly a decade, said she has volunteered as much as possible when needed, rain or shine. 

“If they need us to fill boxes of food, we are there. We will always support the families that need us because they are our community,” she said.

Lopez said she is very grateful for the donations the families receive and she commends the work done by elected officials and organizations that pay attention to what’s going on in the community. 

“When we are united we are stronger,” she said. “If we can help with our hands we will do it to provide relief to families in need,” 

Franco said more than 300 people picked up food. The survey they filled out showed that 96% identified as Latino, half of them were from South Gate, 11% from Huntington Park, 11% from Lynwood and the rest from other areas.