Yasmeen Jones, 37, said she’s learned how to plan meals for her two boys. Thomas, 10, and Austin, 9, were diagnosed with Level 3 autism spectrum disorder. Jones said it’s important to give them new foods to try, but also cook things she knows they enjoy.
“Sometimes I have to make two separate meals, which I don’t mind, because I like cooking,” Jones said.
But this week, after learning that benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could be paused in November, Jones was calling different food pantries near her home in New Holland and reaching out to mutual aid groups she’s joined online.
“It’s going to be hard to get the kids to understand that we may not be able to get those foods this month,” Jones said.
The 37-year-old is among some 55,000 Lancaster County residents, and millions across the country, who were not sure how they were going to get through next month without access to the SNAP program, which used to be known as food stamps.
The pause in benefits was set to take effect Saturday, but two federal judges separately issued rulings that ordered the Trump administration to use SNAP contingency funds to keep the program running during the ongoing federal government shutdown. It was unclear Friday whether the Trump administration would abide by the orders immediately or challenge them.
Individuals who rely on SNAP benefits and leaders from the nonprofit organizations and charities that provide food aid all said they are frantically trying to prepare for the potential fallout.
Many Lancaster County food pantries are expected to get some relief in the coming days after Gov. Josh Shapiro approved the release of $5 million in state funds. Local pantries receive most of their stock from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, which Lancaster County Food Hub Executive Director Paige McFarling said will receive some of the money Shapiro announced and send food directly to pantries like her own.
McFarling said food banks are struggling to keep up with the growing demand.
With the combination of a monthslong state budget impasse and a four-week-long federal government shutdown, some local pantries said they’ve received less food from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank in recent weeks.
Jenn Hollinger, Columbia Dream Center’s outreach coordinator, said the nonprofit’s food pantry used to take in about 5,000 pounds of food from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank once a week. They received only 5,000 pounds of food in the entire month of September, she said.
On Friday, Columbia Dream Center Pastor Dave Powers said more funding for statewide food banks will stave off major changes to the nonprofit’s community meals and pantry programs, like making portion sizes smaller or cutting out proteins from its donations.
Lauren Krosmico, 31, of Lancaster, said she expects she’ll have to skip meals and go hungry without the roughly $290 a month in food benefits she’s received for years.
“It’s a very scary thing to experience. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”
‘The gap’s too big’
At an event at Oregon Dairy hosted by the Lancaster County Farm Bureau Friday morning, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker said the effect of millions of Americans losing SNAP benefits is going to be enormous and likely will be the first tangible effect of the federal government shutdown for many people.
“It’s going to get really real,” Smucker said. “We have thousands of people in our county here, in the district that I represent, who need SNAP benefits, who rely on those benefits.”
That shock could add significant pressure to members of Congress, Smucker said. The five-term congressman put the onus on Democrats in the U.S. Senate to support a measure passed by House Republicans to open the government without any of the changes Democrats are demanding, like the renewal of subsidies for Obamacare health plan subscribers.
Tom Tuten, an outreach worker at Tenfold, said the past week has brought back memories from his time volunteering at a Washington, D.C. food bank two years ago when pandemic-era funding for SNAP ran out. The next day, he said, the nonprofit saw three times the number of people at its door compared to normal demand. The need was overwhelming, Tuten said.
“That is going to be the experience of every food bank and community meal in Lancaster,” he said. “We don’t have the capacity to handle this stuff.”
Tuten said it’s not realistic to assume that every local food bank, nonprofit and church can feed the thousands of people who rely on SNAP. According to Feeding America, a national nonprofit network of food banks, SNAP benefits pay for nine meals for every one meal provided by food banks.
Vanessa Philbert, executive director of Lancaster County’s Community Action Partnership, agreed nonprofits cannot handle the demand on their own. She noted several Community Action Partnership branches in Pennsylvania have already limited the aid they can provide because of constraints related to the state budget impasse. Cambria County’s CAP announced in August that it would temporarily close its community services program due to a lack of funding.
Philbert said Lancaster County CAP is currently able to respond to local need for food and utility assistance, though she is assessing the long-term viability of its program if state and federal aid does not resume soon.
It’s unclear when SNAP funding will resume. Tuten said the delay is causing panic for many people who also depend on Social Security checks. While federal leaders have said they intend to continue sending out Social Security payments, Tuten said low-income people are naturally seeing one form of government assistance going away and worrying about what could come next.
Philbert encouraged nonprofit leaders to call on the “muscle memory” from the COVID-19 pandemic, when providers banded together to help families overcome the economic crisis. But during COVID, she said, federal and state governments were pouring billions into aid programs. Now, Philbert said, nonprofits need the community to step up.
“We’re not expecting philanthropic leaders to close the gap. The gap’s too big,” Philbert said. “But we can help people in small ways.”
Water Street Mission’s annual food drive started Thursday. Water Street President Jack Crowley said the goal is to collect 80,000 pounds of nonperishable food, including canned soup and boxed cereal, through Dec. 22. Crowley said leaders considered setting a higher goal given the ongoing uncertainty around SNAP benefits.
“Let’s open our eyes to the fact that this is impacting our neighbors,” Crowley said. “Those families are going to be showing up at food banks in your community. Thank God there are a good number of us out there.
SOURCE :witf