Volunteers in San Diego help distribute food to those in need

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Trump Administration has agreed to a partial SNAP funding. To learn more about this, click HERE.

SAN DIEGO (NBC, KYMA) - As the government shutdown stretches on, and with SNAP funding uncertain, volunteers donated their time Sunday in San Diego to help distribute food to those in need.

The volunteers with the Jacob and Cushman San Diego Food Bank gave their time by giving fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs and ground turkey to people who really need it the most right now.

"I'm just sad...crushed and disappointed with the system," said LaTonia Scott-Davis, a food recipient.

Scott-Davis was one of the first in a long line of drivers who came to the Snap Dragon parking lot Sunday morning in need of food.

The families and individuals depend on EBT debit cards that pay for groceries each month, and the Food Bank and some of its community supporters came together to distribute 63,000 pounds of food to nearly 2,000 EBT recipients with urgent needs.

"It makes a big difference. Now, we can eat for a day or two," Scott-Davis spoke.

The Food Bank's CEO, Casey Castillo, put it this way saying, "This is not just another food distribution...but it's the Super Bowl of food distribution."

Among the volunteers, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria teamed up with Josh Fryday, California's Chief Service Officer in charge of the state's volunteers.

"The country is looking to California because what we're seeing is chaos and cruelty coming out of Washington D.C., and people are looking for a better way. That's why the governor sent out the National Guard to our food banks on a humanitarian mission," Fryday shared.

The line of traffic is a sign of the times 2,000 individuals and families will be helped with this food distribution, but there are almost 400,000 Californians who woke up Sunday with no funds on their EBT cards.

"I'll be able to eat. You see, I depend on on EBT. If I don't have EBT, what am I going to do?" asked Maria Magana, an EBT user.

Magana and her friend qualified for the drive-by food donations. They are both elderly widows on fixed incomes, living in a senior citizen's apartment building in Chula Vista.

"Sad...frustrated because they're a lot of people in my building who don't have anybody. It's not fair," Magana expressed.

Her friend, who did not want to give her name, added, "I don't have words. That's all I can say."

Words that speak for themselves in any language.