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The
World Harvest Food Bank on Venice has opened its doors to aid
members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Writer's Guild
of America (WGA), who must show their union cards to receive a
bag of groceries, including fresh produce.
"A lot of us are working three to four jobs to make it happen.
We’re barely middle class as it is," SAG member Kristina Wong
told Reuters at the food bank.
"We’re uninsured, we are food insecure and something that I’m
seeing in here is folks who are in tears because they’re
literally not sure how they’re gonna put together a living," she
added.
Actors went on strike on July 14 and writers on May 2, in first
dual work stoppage in 63 years, forcing studios to halt many
productions across the United States and abroad. Both unions are
asking studios for higher pay and guardrails around the use of
artificial intelligence, which they say threatens their
livelihoods.
Wong wanted to find ways to help her fellow union members, and
that meant reaching out to the founder of the food bank, Glen
Curado.
Curado created the local food bank in 2007 with the goal to
serve impoverished community members while also advocating for a
zero waste system to protect the planet.
"When I made this offer to SAG and WGA, it just really really
floored me because people were coming in here and they didn't
have money, like they're losing their houses and cars," Curado
said.
Like Wong, he said he's seen people shed tears as they share the
hardships they've faced both before and during the strikes.
"It's not just somebody on strike that wants a few dollars
more," he added.
This is particularly true for SAG members like Niketa Calame-Harris,
who appreciates the "peace of mind" going to the food bank
creates for her and her daughter.
"If I'm running low there's somewhere that has me, that has my
back," she said with a cart full of groceries.
(Reporting by Jorge Garcia; Writing by Danielle Broadway;
Editing by Mary Milliken and Aurora Ellis)
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