MODESTO, Calif. — Hundreds of low-income and elderly families in Stanislaus County are at risk of losing important services as a local nonprofit deals with budget challenges that threaten its future.
According to CEO Elizabeth Wight, the nearly 50-year-old organization Food Initiative of Greater Stanislaus (FIGS) delivers food and sometimes clothing to around 1,4000 low-income or elderly households each month.
"We are actually able to reach about another 175,000 people per month through the other 33 organizations that we provide food to," Wight said. "I'm standing here in horror and awe that I might not be able to feed the people that rely on us."
The fear isn't due to a lack of food donations, but instead, a lack of funds to pay their small but dedicated staff.
"We get hundreds of thousands of pounds of food donated per month," Wight said. "Expenses increase and donations decrease. Our donors are struggling. I've never before had donors calling and saying, 'I'm so sorry I cannot continue my monthly recurring donation,' and it's every other phone call."
As the phone lines ring, the bills continue to pile up.
"The insurance bill is coming up. You can’t operate if you can’t pay those, and right now, obviously, we are very much at risk of not being able to pay our staff and not being able to pay that bill by mid-September," Wight said. "Which means we would have to pause all programs."
A pause on programs would leave 13-year veteran Operations Manager Naomi Pulido and at least five other employees out of a job in just a matter of days.
"It's sad. I mean, it's hurtful," Pulido said. "I love when I see a child come up and grab a carrot from the basket and then start eating it, you know? It's certain things like that that touch my heart, so I love what I do. I love the people that I work with."
Despite the grim outlook of needing nearly $20,000 in a few weeks, nonprofit leaders are optimistic.
"I'm also really hopeful because I do also know this community, and I know that people want this to exist," Wight said, who is also planning to step aside from the nonprofit soon after 11 years due to medical complications.
Now, it's on the community to turn that want into donations. The nonprofit is accepting donations on its website.
"We do a lot. We serve a lot of people and a lot of people count on us," Pulido said. "So please help out."
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