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Vickie Williams’ favorite meal is baked chicken, string beans and corn on the cob. She often makes it for Sunday dinner for her 81-year-old mother, five grown children and four grandchildren.

Williams, a 58-year-old Gardena resident and former school cafeteria worker, estimates she spends at least $30 of the $194 in food stamps she receives each month on the meal. She doesn’t know how she’d get by without the help.

“It’s not just a privilege,” she said. “It’s needed. It really helps to put food on the table, hot food, especially when you have children.”

L.A. County officials are expanding their efforts to get more people like Williams signed up for food assistance.

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