The Tacoma community comes together to serve families under SNAP program
On Nov. 1, families across America braced for suspension of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as news of the second month of the government shutdown shook the nation.
SNAP provides financial assistance for low-income households to afford food and other necessities through an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card. Approximately 40 million Americans depend on this system and are registered based on situational and household eligibility.
With more than 500,000 Washington residents registered for SNAP, food banks became an essential lifeline. In the midst of the holidays, an already high-demand season, hundreds of new families registered for food banks like St. Leo’s Food Connection. In an informational video, Dawn Whitman, the director of St. Leo’s Food Connection said, “SNAP benefits have been suspended, and going into the holidays, it’s always a higher need time. So, we’re going through our food really quick.”
In the same video, Rick Samyn, the Pastoral Assistant for Social Justice said, “right now where the food bank is literally running out of food, a demand for food assistance is growing; so the affordability question is big right now.”
As shelves at the food bank emptied, innovative solutions became essential. Local businesses came together contributing meals and donations to ensure their neighbors didn’t go hungry.
Local businesses “Toasted” and “Radnors” advertised free meals to those who have lost their benefits. They provided hundreds of free meals to families in need and raised thousands of dollars in donations. Color Therapy, a local jewelry shop, compiled a document as a resource for families who need meals.
These efforts represent only a fraction of the support that emerged in response to the SNAP suspension. Soon after the suspension of SNAP benefits, Bellarmine brought awareness to the situation by publishing an informational video encouraging and providing opportunities to students to volunteer.
Even past the government’s reopening and the slow reimplementation of SNAP, Bellarmine plans to continue to serve the community, with sandwich making for St. Leo’s Sandwich Ministry program on December 2 and 16.
Junior Nuala Crowley, an AMDG Food Connection volunteer, believes things will slowly start to change. “Since the SNAP benefits just came back I feel like there is still gonna be a lower supply of food.” When addressing overall access to food, she “feel[s] like it’s definitely gonna improve, but it’s still gonna be rough as it’s still pretty difficult to afford food for a lot of people.”
Even though the government shutdown has passed and benefits have slowly come back, food insecurity will not end overnight. After news stories stop covering the SNAP crisis and the public gaze moves to the next interesting event, people will still and always need food. As a community, the best thing we can do is use our privilege to help those who have been restricted by their necessities.
