The Yolo County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 4 authorized $225,000 from tobacco settlement (Pomona Fund) dollars to help residents impacted by a federal shutdown that delayed CalFresh/SNAP benefit issuance.

CAO Mike Webb said the federal disruption affects roughly 18,800 county households (nearly 28,000 people). "In September, Yolo County recipients received a total of $5,600,000 in benefits," Webb said to underline the scale. Staff proposed that the county seed a local Food First campaign with the Yolo Food Bank to multiply local giving, expand public food distributions and issue grocery cards to families in need.

Tico Zendejas, coordinating county logistics, said the food bank has increased distribution amounts at emergency sites by about 20% and added more pop‑up distributions; the plan splits seed funds among grocery cards for recipients, additional food purchases for public distributions and credits for partner nonprofits to procure targeted items.

Karen Baker, executive director of the Yolo Food Bank, described rapid local fundraising and operational plans: prepacked emergency boxes for approximately 400 people per distribution (shelf‑stable, produce and protein), targeted gift cards distributed through partner agencies and campus basic‑needs centers, and an affidavit process to limit duplication. "100% of the funds that we will raise goes to food and food only," Baker said. County staff said foundations, grocery stores and many small community fundraisers have already contributed additional sums.

Supervisor Allen moved and Supervisor Villegas seconded approval of the staff recommendation; the motion carried on a voice vote. Staff said they will issue a public release with distribution schedules and multilingual flyers, continue outreach to cities, school districts and UC Davis, and report distribution metrics to the board.