It’s “all hands on deck” at the Food Bank of Central New York right now, according to Karen Belcher, the Food Bank’s president and CEO.
That’s because come Saturday, the federal government won’t be sending monthly checks to those enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Those monthly checks of a few hundred dollars help poor families buy food for the month. Checks won’t be issued because the federal government is shut down. Even if Congress approves a spending plan tomorrow to reopen the government, there won’t be enough time to gear up to issue checks in November. So November, no matter what happens, will be a month without SNAP for those who rely on it.
For the Food Bank of Central New York, the loss of SNAP benefits adds to a growing food security crisis. The Food Bank supplies food to food pantries and feeding programs in 11 counties of central New York and the North Country. Belcher said pantries have already seen about a 5% increase in need this year. The loss of SNAP benefits will make the need sharply higher, immediately.
"There's around 103,987 households here in our service area that receive SNAP," Belcher said. "And that equates to just over 184,000 individuals who are benefiting from the resource. You know, if that's gone, it means the lines at the pantry are going to be longer. So, you know, we have put ourselves back into disaster mode, which means we are preparing to, you know, do the best we can to make sure that we're meeting whatever that need is that our partners are seeing in our communities."
Belcher admits they are unlikely to be able to meet the full need. She said that SNAP provides nine meals for every dollar spent, while the Food Bank can only turn a dollar into three meals.
This week, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $30 million will be used for emergency food assistance, but added that even the state can’t fill the hole Congress has created.
Belcher said there’s plenty of food available for the Food Bank to buy for distribution, but not enough money to buy it all. She said the Hochul’s announcement of emergency aid is welcome news.
"We're going to do what we can," she said. "And that means we're going to get food in and we're going to bring it to those areas that we're seeing the highest needs.”
To find a food pantry, public feeding program or other sources of food help near you, click here.