The Yolo County community comes together for holiday food distribution

The Yolo Food Bank (YFB) provides meals and adequate food for individuals year-round in an effort to address food insecurity in Yolo County. Currently, YFB is gearing up for the 2016 holiday season with its Yolo County holiday food distribution throughout the month of November and a Thanksgiving fundraising event, the Running of the Turkey’s 5k Run & Walk.

YFB is the largest food relief organization in Yolo County. It is able to provide service to the community to address hunger in a number of different ways. Through its partnerships with over 60 nonprofits, like food kitchens and health clinics throughout the area,it is able to provide food to those in need. Additionally, through various direct distribution programs like its emergency food assistance program and its holiday meals distribution program, members of the organization are able to address different needs and serve diverse populations in the community.

“[Food insecurity] affects a wide variety [of individuals…] We see working families, single adults, students, seniors and more,” said Stephanie Villegas, the director of programs for the YFB.

She added that food insecurity weighs heavily on a large population of children throughout the county. About 10,000 children in Yolo County may be food insecure at any given time; also, some 31,000 adults, nearly 15 percent of the population, may experience food insecurity.

The annual report, Hunger in America 2014: Report for Food Bank of Yolo County,  describes that being food secure occurs when “all people at all times can access enough food for an active, healthy life.” However, many individuals and families living throughout the county who are food insecure do not know when their next meal is coming.

Luckily, there are food programs in place that can directly address hunger issues in the region. Take the holiday meals distribution event put together by the YFB that provides Thanksgiving meal kits for local families in Yolo County. YFB estimates that 2,000 meals will be provided this upcoming holiday season bringing local businesses, volunteers and families together.

The Davis Food Co-op, a locally-run grocery store in downtown Davis, donated funds for nearly 250 to 300 turkeys for families in Davis this year.

“We designate a certain amount to this program to the YFB for turkeys, and they depend on us,” said Lis Harvey, the marketing director at the Davis Food Co-op.

Because Harvey sees the daily negative effects of food insecurity on the community, she and others at the Co-op, were determined to do what they could to help at this time. Donating funds for turkeys to the YFB seemed to be the best way to do so.

She added that shareholders and customers of the Co-op are also active contributors towards the cause. At their checkout registers, customers are able to specifically donate money toward turkey purchases to the YFB, and Harvey notices that people are taking the initiative to help one another.

“We have generous shoppers, and we have the most generous community here in Davis […] Our customers appreciate donating money that goes directly to people in Yolo County,” Harvey said.  

Written By: Anya Rehon — city@theaggie.org

Election results are in; Davis community concerned for what the future holds

As Election Day came to a close, and the results trickled in, it proved a difficult time for many as Americans worried about the next president and the future of the country. As the night progressed, some people rejoiced at the results of this year’s election, while many heads hung in sorrow.

By the end of the night, the United States elected a Republican-controlled Senate, a Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a Republican-controlled White House. As residents in a progressive state, many Californians and UC Davis students felt shock and terror regarding the choices the nation had made.

While students and residents ran to the streets in protest of Donald J. Trump’s presidential victory on Nov. 8, Davis mayor Robb Davis extended his hand and listened to the concerns of many people downtown, who felt fearful and concerned about the safety of certain groups of people.

“This is a time that we as a city need to come together and say what it is we value in each other,” Davis said. “We need to make commitments to each other and discuss how we are going to deal with vulnerable populations, people who are legitimately experiencing fear. We need to decide how we are going to be as people to counter to exclusion and hate that has been so much part of the campaign.”

Irene Ezran, a third-year Spanish and International Relations major, supports students’ rights to protest against Trump’s presidency.

“Had the opposition been a respectful candidate, I wouldn’t have been in favor of protesting so much, and instead I would have encouraged moving forward as a country,” Ezran said. “Given the fact that Clinton won the popular vote, and Trump’s rhetoric is offensive to millions of Americans, particularly immigrants, Muslims, women and disabled people, as students we have the right and duty to show that we do not stand by his values of hatred and intolerance.”

While the headline of this election was the race for presidency between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, there were also many regional measures for Californians to vote on:

Prop. 51 (Passed): Allows California to sell up to $9 billion in bonds ($7 billion going toward K-12 schools and the remaining $2 billion for community colleges) for the construction and modernization of school facilities. This results in a cost of approximately $17.6 billion (initial cost of $9 billion in addition to $8.6 billion in interest).

Prop. 52 (Passed): Indefinitely extends an existing statute imposing fees on private hospitals to fund Medi-Cal, care for uninsured patients, children’s health coverage, and provide grants to public hospitals. This creates little fiscal impact on the state and taxpaying individuals.

Prop. 53 (Failed): If passed, it would have required statewide voter approval for revenue bonds to be issued or sold for any project costing over $2 billion if funded, owned, or managed by the state; however, this measure failed so state revenue bonds may continue to be provided without voter approval.

Prop. 54 (Passed): Any bill or amendments to a bill must be posted on the Internet for a minimum of 72 hours before the Legislature can pass it. In addition, the legislature must also record their proceedings and post it on the Internet for public viewing. The fiscal ramification of this proposition results in a one-time $1 to $2 million cost, in addition to an annual cost of about $1 million for video and recording.

Prop. 55 (Passed): Enacted in 2012 (until 2018), this measure extends the increased income tax on earnings over $250,000 until 2030. The allocated funds will support K-12 schools, community colleges, and healthcare. Results in an approximate $4 to $9 billion in annual state revenue from 2019 to 2030.

Prop. 56 (Passed): Increases the state excise tax on cigarettes by $2 per pack. The tax rises from 87 cents to $2.87 on cigarette packs with e-cigarettes and other tobacco products increasing in similar amounts. This tax will go towards funding health care for low-income Californians.

Prop. 57 (Passed): Allows certain state prison inmates parole consideration if convicted of nonviolent felony offenses. In addition, the prison system can award sentencing credit to inmates for good behavior, rehabilitation or education. Moreover, juveniles are required to appear in juvenile court before being transferred to adult court. This relieves the state of about tens of millions of dollars annually and produces net county costs of about a few million dollars annually.

Prop. 58 (Passed): Allows public schools to more easily choose how to teach English efficiently for non-native speakers, whether in English-only, in dual-language immersion or in other types of programs. It also continues to require that public schools ensure students are proficient in English. There is no notable fiscal impact on the state or schools.

Prop. 59 (Passed): As an advisory measure, this proposition does not require any action by state or federal legislature, but asks elected officials to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. This case ruled that it was unconstitutional to place political spending limits on corporations and unions. This asks the legislature to increase regulation on campaign spending and contributions. This presents no direct cost to state or local governments.

Prop. 60 (Failed): If passed, this proposition would have required adult film performers to use condoms during the filming of sexual intercourse and requires producers to pay for vaccines, tests, and medical exams with additional ways of enforcing those requirements. Not passing this measure means that adult film productions would continue to be subject to state and local workplace health and safety requirements.

Prop. 61 (Failed): Passing this measure would have prohibited state agencies from paying more for prescription drugs than the lowest price paid for the drug by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs. Its failure allows state agencies to continue to negotiate prices of drugs without reference to the prices paid by the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Prop. 62 (Failed): Passage would have repealed the death penalty and replaced it with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole; however, its failure continues the death penalty sentence.

Prop. 63 (Passed): Initiates new requirements for selling or purchasing ammunition, including a background check and approval from the Department of Justice. It also prohibits possession of large-capacity magazines and calls for the creation of a new court process for the removal of firearms from prohibited persons after being convicted of certain crimes. This increases the court law enforcement costs of California and its local governments by potentially tens of millions of dollars annually.

Prop. 64 (Passed): Legalizes marijuana for recreational use, possession and cultivation by adults 21 and older, and imposes state taxes on the sale and cultivation of cannabis. It allows for regulation of non medical marijuana business by local governments and imposes standards for marijuana products. The revenue will fund youth programs, environmental protection, and law enforcement.

Prop. 65 (Failed): If passed, this would have redirected the money collected from the sale of carryout bags to environmental projects. Its failure imposes that charges on carryout bags could fund any purpose.

Prop. 66 (Passed): Changes court procedures for legal challenges to death sentence, including limiting successive petitions, increasing available attorneys for appeals and setting time limits on challenges. The fiscal impact of this measure in unknown.

Prop. 67 (Passed): This proposition prohibits most stores from providing single-use plastic carryout bags and instead requires a 10 cent charge for any other carryout bags. The estimated cost of this measure in unknown but relatively small.

Written By: Bianca Antunez — city@theaggie.org