Cal-EPA office accepts food donations as hungry Sacramento state workers ask for pantry staples

Government workers in need are asking for food such as pasta and beans, staples used for years to stave off starvation, from a local food pantry even though they are employed and earning some kind of income from their government jobs. But is the food they get really nutritious? Cal-EPA workers are donating food to help Cal-EPA workers. It's about state workers, not their families. Your image might have been husband and wife working for the state, bringing home a double income. But what's the reality?

According to the August 30, 2010 Sacramento Bee article by By Carlos Alcalá, "Cal-EPA office maintains food pantry to help employees in need," usually, the 3,000 employees in the California Environmental Protection Agency high-rise downtown hold food and coat drives in winter and blood drives at other times of year. It's their way of giving back to the Sacramento community.

Would you ever think that people who work for the government, be it the state, city, federal, or county government would need to ask for food from a local food pantry to feed their hungry families and themselves? After all, are they earning a salary? But since June, a program dubbed "Helping Hands" has stocked shelves on the first floor with donated food products and household necessities that can be picked up by employees in need, according to the Sacramento Bee article.

A container in the lobby holds donated pasta, beans, paper towels and other basics. It's not only about furloughs resulting in a 15% percent loss in pay, or spouses losing jobs

Several months ago, Cal-EPA's Health, Safety and Wellness unit started getting calls from people in foreclosure or wanting to slow down foreclosure. People started selling their homes.

Cal-EPA opened Helping Hands, which has given away about 3,000 food and household items worth about $7,000 since mid-July. People ask for food at the end of the month when money runs out. They accept donations of produce and fruit from farmers' markets.

The food closet is in a room with used and reusable office products. It allows employees to come down and get things without anyone knowing why they're there. Help for state workers who are hungry and whose money runs out at the end of the month are also looking for other agencies to set up something similar to the food pantry for state workers. The departments of Motor Vehicles and General Services and Social Services have all been asked, according to the Sacramento Bee article. Nutrition, good nutrition, comes first.