So, you need food and you live in San Diego.

You aren't alone. You live in a city with one of the highest populations of people requiring food assistance. In San Diego, 73,000 people and families receive food assistance every week. That is food assistance, not General Relief.

Food Assistance is a term used for volunteer services, relying on food donations from citizens and businesses in San Diego. With all of the funding cuts on food assistance programs, it is likely that most of the food given out today, is from community donations -- in one form or another.

To feed 73,000 people a week, requires a substantial community commitment. The citizens of San Diego apparently feel it is a commitment which needs to be met.

In San Diego, fewer than 1,000 people a year, are given General Relief, which is an average of $199 a month.

At an even 1000 people, this equates to only 1 person in 73 (who clearly need food assistance), are receiving the available assistance from a city -- in a city whose citizens clearly feel that people starving is not a good thing.

Is it a lack of funding? Is it that the General Relief fund doesn't have enough money to help more than 1000 people this year? Is our city lacking funding in this area?

No. In fact, San Diego never offers the full amount of the budget given to them every year for General Relief. In fact, I'm told that the city government feels that this is a good thing, that they do not hand out money for food, in a city that has well over the average amount of people who seriously need the relief.