Miami, FL - Due to the ongoing financial hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of individuals formed long lines as officials handed out free grocery vouchers in the city over the weekend.
The city in Florida has been handing out a $250 gift card for the Publix supermarket to those residents who are currently in need of the most.
In order to secure that they will avail the said vouchers, some residents shared to the reporters that they had to sleep overnight in the area to ensure that they will be able to collect theirs as the numbers of gift cards are limited which depends on the need of respective districts, Newsweek reported.
A resident coming from the District 5 of the area, Pierre Casseos, shared to CBS Miami that he even slept on a crate of an overturned milk on Friday night to avoid missing out on the distribution.
Throughout the week, long lines can be observed during the giving out of vouchers at distribution centers.
One among the workers in the lines, Mabel Miller shared on Wednesday that she used her only day off to join the line as he emphasized that she is not getting food stamps and she living off out of her paycheck.
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She also added that bills come first and after that, it is the time for her to buy groceries, as she also stated that $60 to $70 worth of groceries is already enough for her and her mom.
According to Daily Mail, during the global health crisis, unemployment rates in Miami have soared with the latest numbers show 8.8% of workers are looking for a job in Miami-Dade County, where the city of Miami is located.
A number of experts have suggested that the real figure could be higher as some may have given up on looking for work.
Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida lifted the majority of restrictions for businesses in September which means all businesses which includes bars can operate at full capacity if they can offer enough space for customers to continue to maintain social distancing.
According to NBC News, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez stated that the city had begun offering vouchers as a way of helping the neediest individuals in their community and emphasized that federal help had been limited for Miami due to its population being under an arbitrary limit of 500,000.
He also added that the truth of the matter is the entertainment and the hospitality industry, which played a huge part in his success has been decimated.
Suarez also mentioned that people are no longer traveling as much as they used to and they are not able to congregate in the ways that they used to.
He also mentioned that a big part of their economy was based on the socialization and congregation economy and they have taken a hit, but despite that Suarez stated that their city is extremely resilient.
Suarez also shared that officials of the city were urged to pass a new Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in order to help those who are still in need.
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