U.S. Meals Financial institution Offers Groceries to Placing Hollywood Actors, Writers

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Los Angeles meals financial institution created to assist low-income households is now coming to assistance from putting and struggling Hollywood actors and writers, a few of whom present up free of charge groceries with tears of their eyes.

The World Harvest Meals Financial institution on Venice has opened its doorways to assist members of the Display Actors Guild (SAG) and the Author’s Guild of America (WGA), who should present their union playing cards to obtain a bag of groceries, together with contemporary produce.

“Quite a lot of us are working three to 4 jobs to make it occur. We’re barely center class as it’s,” SAG member Kristina Wong advised Reuters on the meals financial institution.

“We’re uninsured, we’re meals insecure and one thing that I’m seeing in right here is people who’re in tears as a result of they’re actually undecided how they’re gonna put collectively a dwelling,” she added.

Actors went on strike on July 14 and writers on Could 2, in first twin work stoppage in 63 years, forcing studios to halt many productions throughout the USA and overseas. Each unions are asking studios for greater pay and guardrails round using synthetic intelligence, which they are saying threatens their livelihoods.

Wong wished to search out methods to assist her fellow union members, and that meant reaching out to the founding father of the meals financial institution, Glen Curado.

Curado created the native meals financial institution in 2007 with the purpose to serve impoverished neighborhood members whereas additionally advocating for a zero waste system to guard the planet.

“Once I made this supply to SAG and WGA, it simply actually actually floored me as a result of individuals have been coming in right here and so they did not have cash, like they’re dropping their homes and vehicles,” Curado mentioned.

Like Wong, he mentioned he is seen individuals shed tears as they share the hardships they’ve confronted each earlier than and in the course of the strikes.

“It is not simply someone on strike that wishes a number of {dollars} extra,” he added.

That is significantly true for SAG members like Niketa Calame-Harris, who appreciates the “peace of thoughts” going to the meals financial institution creates for her and her daughter.

“If I am operating low there’s someplace that has me, that has my again,” she mentioned with a cart filled with groceries.

(Reporting by Jorge Garcia; Writing by Danielle Broadway; Enhancing by Mary Milliken and Aurora Ellis)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.