The Yolo County Children's Alliance will host its 18th annual Community Giveaway Day for Yolo County families from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 18 at River City High School located at 1 Raider Ln. in West Sacramento.
According to the event's press release, the entrance will be off Linden Road.
"This in-person event is a staple in the city of West Sacramento and supports hundreds of families and children throughout Yolo County," the press release stated. "Community Giveaway Day is supported by the Yolo Food Bank, Washington Unified School District and tens of volunteers who support the work needed for a successful event."
The Alliance is a nonprofit organization that has served Yolo County families for over 20 years. This annual event provides more than 1,200 children and 650 families with holiday meal kits, new coats for children and winter resources.
"The goal of this event is to ensure that every child has a warm winter, and every family is connected with resources they need to build meaningful ties to their communities and each other," the release added.
Last year's Community Giveaway Day provided COVID-19 vaccinations, Thanksgiving meal kits and coats for every child under 18 for 700 families.
Jeneba Lahai, executive director for the alliance, said in a Nov. 19, 2022, interview during the event that her organization was shocked to see how many people attended the event.
"I've never seen this before," she said regarding the number of families attending the event. "When we were leaving last night at 5 p.m., we already had cars lined up. I got here at 6 a.m. and the block was already full."
Lahai noted that the organization had 28,000 pounds of food and 2,000 jackets to give away during the event.
"We wish we had more resources for more, but unfortunately we can only give out 2,000 coats this year because of how expensive it is to run this event," Lahai said. "Coats are expensive…so when we're asking for money, it's usually going to events like this."
Lahai also noted that the resource center is located in the Bryte and Broderick community, which has been disenfranchised for years and is considered a food desert due to the lack of access to fresh food.
"What we are trying to do is bring more resources into this community," Lahai highlighted. "The families are used to coming here for services and it's a familiar space."
Lahai stressed the importance of events like this because of the impact the pandemic, rent increases and inflation are having on Yolo County families.
"Households are barely surviving," Lahai explained. "Every time rent increases, that means that more money has to go towards keeping your shelter and less money into actually getting needed items."
Lahai added that YCCA has noticed a significant increase in reliance on its weekly food distributions since the start of the pandemic with upwards of 300 cars visiting the resource center for food every Friday.
To learn more about the alliance, visit yolokids.org.
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