Sacramento-based NorCal Resist is asking for food and cash donations and gift cards for its May 16 Car Caravan to Butte County that will provide emergency pandemic assistance to immigrant families ineligible for government aid.
NorCal Resist organizer Autumn Gonzalez said many of the immigrant families that will be assisted with cash for rent or in other ways are Camp Fire survivors who contacted the organization’s hotline.
“We’ve had a lot of calls from Butte County,” Gonzalez said today. “It’s really sad because so many work all the time and pay into unemployment, and now aren’t working and aren’t able to collect unemployment. We’ve heard from people who say, ‘We have no food left and we’re down to our last $10.’”
Some of the Camp Fire survivors have needs even greater than those of people who are struggling in the Sacramento area, she added.
ChicoSol recently posted an Ethnic Media Services story explaining that millions of people in this country have received no relief, not even a stimulus check — including American citizens who have an undocumented person in their family.
NorCal Resist, a grass-roots immigrant aid organization, raised more than $100,000 to assist undocumented and asylum-seeking immigrants in the Sacramento area in recent weeks. However, the fund is almost depleted and donations are needed for the Butte County caravan.
Cash donations can be made here. Gift cards for grocery stores, Walmart, Target, or other places can be mailed to NorCal Resist, P.O. Box 188331, Sacramento, CA 95818.
The organization is not taking more requests for assistance at this time, but has about 2 dozen families in this area awaiting emergency relief. — Leslie Layton