The cost of groceries has finally increased as many predicted at the turn of the pandemic, and we are now seeing the effect on families’ budgets and in their kitchens. The global food supply chain all the way to our local grocery stores are affected.

The California drought is also to blame for the increase in prices. Water-intense crops, like tree nuts, have been particularly impacted. In fact, some farmers have started taking out their almond trees. Prices of hay and other feed sources may increase which will in turn affect the prices of dairy and other animal-based products.

In a recent article, Bloomberg catalogued how different countries, including the US, are seeing increases in their food costs.

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Food insecurity in our area is one of our top concerns right next to homelessness. The pandemic brought both these issues to the forefront of our societal lens when people lost their jobs and became at risk for both hunger and losing their homes.

It’s because of this that we used our resources and joined with other organizations to help our community in more focused ways since the Camp Fire. Thanks to our local legislators, Senator Jim Nielsen and Assemblyman James Gallagher, we received new State funding that helped bolster our food distribution efforts. We also promoted news of rent relief programs to keep people in their homes while experiencing financial hardship.  We even had brave volunteers answer the call to help make our VITA services happen while abiding by COVID-19 guidelines.

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We get to have a summer outside of our homes this year! We want you to enjoy all that the North State has to offer this time of year and we want to help you do it without having to spend too much money.

Move Your Body!

Get outside and move your body! Going for a walk costs nothing and this simple activity has many health benefits when done regularly. You can plan morning or evening walks with friends and explore all the different trails in your local area and throughout your city. Riding bikes, roller blading, and skateboarding are also great options for you to get outside without spending money, especially with Chico's skate park and extensive bike paths.

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Tailgate season has returned! This is one of the more unique programs that the Community Action Agency runs.

Tailgate Food Giveaway conducts seasonal produce giveaways in 13 different cities throughout the counties we serve.

We are so happy this program is returning at full speed. We are still taking safety precautions so for the time being we expect the events to stay in the drive through format. 

We are hoping the events will still include other non-profit agency booths to provide education and assistance programs related to the produce, such as Cal Fresh, Public Health and Nutrition Education.

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We are excited about the launch of our latest program in combating hunger and food waste in Butte County, the 530 Food Rescue Coalition!  It is community action at its best and we want to share it with you.

This effort is a partnership that the Community Action Agency of Butte County, Inc. has created with the Center for Healthy Communities. 

In an interview with KZFR Radio, Center for Healthy Communities' Health Education Specialist, Sheila McQuaid, talked about how the project came to be, what the focus of the 530 Food Rescue Coalition (530 FRC) will be, and what that means for our community. 

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February is the month of hearts. We see hearts everywhere. We celebrate those we love with flowers, balloons and cards with hearts. We are focused on the gift of those we care for and love in our lives. What if there was a way to share that love beyond our friends and family to the entire community?

Here at Community Action Agency’s North State Food Bank, we received a donation that warmed our hearts and got us thinking a bit. The donation letter said the following:

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Northern California has shown its resiliency repeatedly since 2018. We don’t need to tell you all that we’ve experienced, but we do want to tell you about the good that’s happened in our community.

By coming together, we were able to make some great things happen. Our mission at Butte CAA is to lift others up and out of poverty, but everyone in our community plays a part as well through volunteering, donating, and spreading the word about our programs. Let’s look at some of those achievements together.

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Wow what a year 2020 was! We, as an agency, were put to work in ways we couldn’t have imagined in life before a pandemic. But now that we are here in 2021, we are ready to help you, our North State community, by providing you with tangible resources and supplies when in need.

Looking Ahead with Hope

We are hopeful that this year will be better. For us, hope is non-negotiable. It’s how we operate. Since we are in the business of helping our community members who are experiencing tough times, we are actively supplying hope in forms like boxes of groceries or ensuring that power bills get paid.

Though we are ready to meet the critical needs we know of, we can’t tell the future or know what may happen in the next 12 months. If you would like to help our efforts financially or by volunteering, we welcome your interest and there are many areas to get involved.

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Dear North State, 

This holiday season all of us at the Community Action Agency of Butte County, Inc. want to wish you and your loved ones a time of peace, healing and joy. The year 2020 has brought many things that we do not want to see continued into 2021, but Butte CAA remains committed to our communities as we have since 1967. 

Whether natural disaster, health crisis or underperforming economy, we are here to help in whatever way that we can. I want to express appreciation to all of the Board, Staff, and Volunteers who make our efforts possible each day. 

When we look at our strengths, we have many people in our organization who are motivated and feel a humble sense of responsibility to others. This combination is a dynamite one for our agency and helps us get what needs to be done to help people in need. Our employees and volunteers are inspiring - day in and day out they get the job done with quality effort. 

Even during this unusual year of 2020, we were able to accomplish much through their efforts. 

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You may have seen the recent article in the Chico Enterprise Record talking about our most recent food distribution event or maybe you saw it show up on your Facebook newsfeed. Wherever you get your news, we want you to be up-to-date on what is happening in our community. We also want you to have the opportunity to stay engaged with our Food Distribution events, and so we have put together an FAQ and Facebook Event step by step guide.

All you need to know about what is happening in Butte County with CAA Food Distributions:

This past Monday we had a PSPS food distribution event in anticipation of the need that would come from the scheduled power outages this past weekend. It was great to have the Chico ER there to cover the story and share what we are up to. 

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