{"id":7019,"date":"2026-08-17T05:35:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T05:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7019"},"modified":"2026-08-17T05:35:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T05:35:56","slug":"hayward-food-pantry-helps-fight-hunger-one-last-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7019","title":{"rendered":"Hayward food pantry helps fight hunger one last time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HAYWARD \u2013 As a much-needed food pantry closed Friday in Hayward, some of those that relied on the essential service were left questioning where they will go next for help.<\/p>\n

Read more Word Game: August 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a lot of good produce that I get here,\u201d Violeta Chomo, a 28-year-old mother of three, told this news organization in Spanish on Friday. \u201cI don\u2019t know where else to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chomo, who said she lives near the parish, stood in line outside the South Hayward Parish food pantry Friday afternoon, not aware it was the pantry\u2019s last. She is one of about 700 people the pantry served weekly.<\/p>\n

First Presbyterian Church of Hayward decided to cease operations at the pantry to focus more on its homeless shelter on Patrick Avenue, which houses up to 25 people daily, seven days a week.<\/p>\n

Church leadership this month chose to put resources toward expanding shelter services. Despite a reported decline in Hayward\u2019s homeless population, the church\u2019s demand for shelter space continues to rise, according to Jason Shaw, director of outreach for First Presbyterian.<\/p>\n

First Presbyterian also operates a 24-hour shelter in Castro Valley. Shaw said the church\u2019s new vision for the Hayward location is to expand to 24-hours daily, whereas currently it is open about 19 hours a day.<\/p>\n

The pantry, which had operated in the same location under different ownership for more than 50 years, has no dedicated food storage space \u2013 no industrial refrigerators, freezers, or dry storage. Since 2019, church officials estimate they served over 43,000 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a challenge,\u201d Shaw said.<\/p>\n

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Limited space and a lack of resources, mixed with continued rising demand for food and shelter space, made it difficult to keep the pantry open since First Presbyterian moved to the location in 2019.<\/p>\n

After 20 years going once a week to collect food, nearby resident Maria Elena Gonzalez said it was unfortunate to see the pantry close. Now, she will have to find a new reliable weekly source of food, though she said she was unsure exactly where she might go.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a big help for me. The cost of living is very expensive here,\u201d Elena Gonzalez said in Spanish on Friday. \u201cIt\u2019s sad for me that they\u2019re closing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Takija Gardner, CEO of local nonprofit Community Child Care Council (4Cs) of Alameda County, said her organization is expecting to absorb some of the need from residents following the pantry\u2019s closure.<\/p>\n

Read more Fruits of her labor: Katie Husher learned winemaking from the ground up<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe know that the closure of the South Hayward Parish is a significant loss for the community,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cWhat we experienced when families have services cut or removed, we tend to try to at least support and try to fill the gap where needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of 11 other food distribution services within 5 miles of the South Hayward Parish food pantry, Gardner\u2019s organization offers a monthly distribution for local residents on the first Thursday of every month.<\/p>\n

The closure comes at a particularly difficult time for food distributors, Gardner said, as local demand has increased.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely a higher demand for food support right now,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing the uptick especially over the last few months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other food distributors expect the demand to rise, and for many to face potential food insecurity soon.<\/p>\n

With recent cuts to California CalFresh and SNAP program benefits, which provide food assistance to thousands of families across the state, local food distribution services are bracing for the impact. For these groups and the people they serve, it\u2019s a bad time to see a food pantry close.<\/p>\n

Michael Altfest, a spokesman for the Alameda County Community Food Bank, said that his organization, starting in June, expected between 20,000 to 30,000 county residents to either partially or completely lose food assistance benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the biggest challenge on the horizon for us now. Over the next 15 months we\u2019re going to start to see what the effect is,\u201d Altfest said. \u201cOne of those people losing their benefits would be unacceptable. Hundreds would be bad. Thousands will be catastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a list of other available food distribution services within 5 miles of the South Hayward Parish location, visit firstpreshayward.org. The Alameda County Community Food Bank also operates an emergency food helpline between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 510-635-3663.<\/p>\n

Read more Golden State Valkyries remain on verge of clinching WNBA playoff spot<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The South Hayward Parish food pantry closed Friday after serving residents for over 50 years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHayward food pantry helps fight hunger one last time - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hayward food pantry helps fight hunger one last time - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The South Hayward Parish food pantry closed Friday after serving residents for over 50 years\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-17T05:35:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7019#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7019\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Hayward food pantry helps fight hunger one last time\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T05:35:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7019\"},\"wordCount\":745,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7019#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/a6719540ca24d456619adb8cb56a90f0-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7019#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7019\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7019\",\"name\":\"Hayward food pantry helps fight hunger one last time - 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