FRESNO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 17, 2025--
The Central Valley of California is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the U.S., yet many of its residents experience food insecurities. Nearly a fifth of Fresno County residents live below the poverty level 1 and with the rising cost of housing, groceries and utilities, many are often stretched beyond their financial limits.
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Lifelong Learning Administration Corporation, a nonprofit that provides administrative and operational support to schools, has answered the calls for help from local organizations that provide meals, groceries and other wraparound services. Central California Food Bank and Poverello House will be gifted donations totaling $30,000 to further their missions to support community members in need.
“Our partner schools like Learn4Life have campuses often located in communities with significant socioeconomic challenges and nonprofits like these have been a lifesaver for many of the students our work supports,” explained Pete Faragia, CEO of Lifelong Learning and longtime Fresno resident. “I often think about the plight of students being expected to learn when they’re unsure of when or where their next meal will come from. I appreciate the essential work of Central California Food Bank and Poverello House at this time of year and beyond.”
Central California Food Bank works with a network of more than 270 member partners — including schools, churches, community centers and other organizations. Their work across Fresno, Tulare, Kings, Madera and Kern Counties provides nutritious food to children, families and seniors through food pantries, school meal programs, food distributions and grocery-box pick-ups.
“This generous donation will allow us to provide up to 60,000 meals,” said Natalie Caples, co-CEO of the Central California Food Bank. “This has been an especially challenging year for our neighbors who struggle to meet basic needs of their families, so we are grateful for the generosity of our community and organizations like Lifelong Learning to aid in our mission.”
Since the early 1970s, Poverello House has provided essential, compassionate support such as food, shelter, hygiene and pathways to rehabilitation and permanent housing. Social services provided include housing referrals, clothing, showers and laundry, substance-abuse rehabilitation and case management.
“We provide three hot meals a day, 365 days a year, and the demand for our help has only grown this holiday season,” explained Poverello House CEO Zackary Darrah. “The donation from Lifelong Learning will provide 5,000 meals to the families and individuals we are trying to warm during the coldest month of the year.”
Both organizations rely on the generosity of companies and individuals to sustain essential services for residents of the Central Valley, underscoring the ongoing need for support in the communities they serve. To make a donation, please visit Central California Food Bank or Poverello House.
About Lifelong Learning
Lifelong Learning provides services and support to schools that educate students through a personalized learning model. As a nonprofit, Lifelong Learning is dedicated to empowering other nonprofits and educational organizations that work to enrich lives and communities. For more information, please visit www.llac.org.
About Central California Food Bank
Central California Food Bank (CCFB) is the region’s largest nonprofit organization focused solely on ending hunger. CCFB has experienced tremendous growth since its beginning in 1992 and now serves as the center of a vast network of more than 270 member partners, including schools, churches, community kitchens, and more, to provide nutritious food to our neighbors in need throughout Fresno, Madera, Tulare, Kings and Kern Counties.
Through our comprehensive hunger-relief programs and services, we distribute nearly 60 million pounds of food to families in need each year, serving more than 320,000 people each month, including more than 100,000 children across our service area. This is indicative of the 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 3 children that face food insecurity in Central California. For more information about what Central California Food Bank is doing to fight hunger, visit www.ccfoodbank.org.
About Poverello House
Poverello House is a Fresno-based nonprofit dedicated to serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness, hunger and hardship. Founded in 1973 by “Papa Mike” McGarvin, Poverello House began as a grassroots effort to offer meals, compassion and dignity to those in need. More than five decades later, it has grown into a vital community hub providing daily hot meals, shelter, safe respite, clothing, hygiene services, rehabilitation programs, and comprehensive support that helps guests take steps toward stability and self-sufficiency.
Each year, Poverello House serves hundreds of thousands of meals and connects thousands of individuals to essential wraparound services—guided by its mission to enrich the lives and spirits of all who walk through its doors. Learn more at poverellohouse.org.
1Fresno County Department of Public Health, 2025
Lifelong Learning steps up as a nonprofit serving other nonprofits with donations to the Central California Food Bank and Poverello House to help feed families this holiday season
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday he will soon sign an order to pay all Department of Homeland Security employees who have gone without paychecks during the record-long partial government shutdown that has reached 48 days.
Despite that unilateral move announced in a social media post, the funding lapse for some DHS needs is likely to stretch into next week as the House contemplates passing a Senate plan it had previously rejected to fund the bulk of the agency, though not its immigration enforcement operations.
Trump used a similar maneuver to resume pay for the Transportation Security Administration after many employees had called out from work, resulting in long delays at airport security lines for travelers. Trump's latest intervention is expected to apply to other non-law enforcement employees at the department, including many employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Coast Guard and the agency responsible for coordinating federal cybersecurity efforts.
Trump said their families “have suffered far too long.”
“Nevertheless, help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country,” Trump said.
There was no legislative resolution Thursday after both the House and Senate met for just a few minutes in pro forma sessions. Nonetheless, the Republican leadership and Trump have coalesced around a plan to fully fund DHS as part of a two-step process. The agreement puts the congressional leaders on the same page for ending the impasse after they had pursued separate paths that resulted in Congress leaving Washington last week for its spring recess without a fix.
During the brief sessions, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., put aside the House plan to fund the entire department for 60 days. Then the House met briefly without taking up the bipartisan Senate plan that had been worked out with Democrats, though Thune is looking toward eventual passage.
“I don’t know the particulars around what the House will do with it,” Thune told reporters. “My assumption is, at some point, hopefully, they’ll move it.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Thune, announced Wednesday that they would return to the Senate measure, which funds most of DHS with the exception of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol. Republicans will try later to fund those agencies through party-line spending legislation that could take months to finish.
Neither outcome is guaranteed, and the strategy could potentially still face opposition from the GOP’s own ranks even though Trump has given his support.
Johnson’s embrace of the two-track plan marks a sharp reversal from less than a week ago, when he derided it as a “joke” and said he was “quite convinced that it can’t be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill.”
Public backlash was swift after lawmakers left Washington last week without a resolution, with the tabloid website TMZ posting paparazzi-style photos of members at airports and out of town. The regularly scheduled break, while drawing criticism, is typically used by lawmakers to reconnect with constituents and travel abroad.
Johnson now appears to be on board. But securing support from his own conference could prove more difficult after a sizable group of House Republicans blasted the Senate-passed bill last week.
House Republicans held a conference call later Thursday to discuss the next steps. The GOP leadership indicated to lawmakers that it does no expect to recall them to Washington from the spring recess; they are due back April 14.
Lawmakers also heard from White House budget director Russ Vought. The White House is expected to release Trump’s 2027 budget proposal on Friday.
Democrats in both chambers were aligned last week with the Senate's plan, and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York blamed House Republicans on Thursday for taking no action on it during the brief morning session.
“The deep division and dysfunction among House Republicans is needlessly extending the DHS shutdown and hurting federal workers who are missing another paycheck,” Schumer said.
Johnson will look to persuade the most conservative lawmakers within his conference to go along with the two-step approach agreed upon with the president, and Trump's latest social media post could help. The president thanked Thune and Johnson for their work, and sought to project Republican unity.
“Republicans are UNIFIED, and moving forward on a plan that will reload funding for our FANTASTIC Border Patrol and Immigration Enforcement Officers,” Trump wrote.
Many in the GOP conference have taken the stand that ICE and the Border Patrol need to be included as part of any funding agreement.
“Let’s make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., posted on X. “If that’s the vote, I’m a NO.”
Meanwhile, the budget package that Trump wants voted on by June 1 is expected to fund ICE and Border Patrol through the remainder of Trump’s term, as a way to try to ensure those agencies are no longer at risk from Democrats objecting to his immigration enforcement agenda.
Thune acknowledged the potential hurdles to that route, such as efforts to expand the scope of the bill. He said the goal is to keep it “as narrow and focused as possible” in order to pass it “with haste.”
The vast majority of DHS employees have reported to work during the shutdown, but many thousands have gone without pay. As more Transportation Security Administration agents called out from work, there was increasing frustration for air travelers confronted by long waits at some airport security lines. Those bottlenecks appeared to be clearing this week as agents began receiving backpay after Trump signed an executive order.
About 10,000 FEMA workers are being paid because their wages come out of the non-lapsing Disaster Relief Fund. At least 4,000 FEMA employees are furloughed or currently working without pay.
AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters outside the chamber after passing a measure by unanimous consent that would fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, if the House agrees, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., gestures as he speaks to reporters outside the chamber after passing a a measure by unanimous consent that would fund most of the Department of Homeland Security if the House agrees, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill,Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
