Shutdown strains area food banks
Staff writer
Not only are beneficiaries of Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, previously called “food stamps,” likely to see benefits delayed or not sent in November because of an ongoing federal shutdown.
A handful of other food assistance programs also are in danger.
Lu Turk, head of Marion County Department on Aging, said the county’s Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program, was struggling with funding, and a commodities food program was being delayed as well.
Food shipments distributed through the county’s senior centers earlier were cut back from monthly distribution to a two-month distribution schedule.
There is no end in sight, Turk said.
The most recent news Turk got on the program came in September. Kansas Department for Children and Families sent an email saying money to deliver commodities to community distribution sites had been delayed, so no deliveries would be made.
“Unfortunately, when there are delays at the federal level, they directly impact our ability to fulfill deliveries at the local level,” the email said. “Once funds are received, we will resume shipments.”
The program is available to young families as well as seniors, as long as income limits are met.
Gross monthly income limits for commodities are $2,322 for a family of one, plus $830 more for each additional person.
With funding woes affecting both commodities and SNAP benefits, that leaves few places for families to turn.
“I keep pushing the food banks,” Turk said. “They are their own entity.”
Turk is not aware of any other food resources a young family could turn to.
Cathy Henderson, former director of Marion County Food Bank, said donors aware of problems with federal SNAP already had stepped up their donations.
“We are very blessed,” Henderson said.
Marion County Food Bank serves about 150 families a month. Clients are limited to two trips a month.
On Thursday, 12 volunteers busily opened boxes to restock shelves and fill bags with food.
Supplies come from direct donations and from Kansas Food Bank.
A Marion woman in line to pick up food said her family of two wouldn’t starve without food from the food bank, but picking up food at the food bank made a difference in her budget.
A Hillsboro woman who also came Thursday said that while she lived in a paid-for home, she must live on retirement income alone.
“Everything’s gone up,” she said. “I have my retirement income. That’s all I have coming in. I own my home, but you still have other expenses.”
Picking up food from the food bank makes it easier to afford other necessities, she said.
Food bank director Jane O’Connor wouldn’t make a prediction whether demand for food help would go up.
“We just don’t know for sure what’s going to happen,” O’Connor said.
Marion churches are “fantastic” about collecting food for the food bank, she said.
Food and supplies given out are “basic,” she noted.
Peabody’s food bank is operated by the Association of Churches, which also provides community assistance with financial needs of residents in the Peabody-Burns school district.
Rodger Charles, representative of the association, said the food bank and other assistance programs definitely would see an increase in the number of people asking for help.
The problem is not simply that SNAP benefits are endangered, he said. It’s that this is the beginning of the holiday season, when low-income parents and grandparents tend to prioritize providing Christmas gifts over taking care of themselves.
“A lot of times they will forfeit food in order to buy gifts,” Charles said. “It’s a very difficult season.”
Cutting back on buying food creates extra demand on the food bank, and cutting back on utility payments creates more requests for money from the association’s general fund for help keep utilities on.
Without food, people starve, and without gas and electric, people freeze, he said.
Peabody’s need always is stark, Charles said. Several years ago, when the Kansas Department for Children and Families closed its office in Marion, it sponsored a meeting to tell community leaders other locations where people could find an office. It also released statistics on how many people were served in Marion County.
The number of people served in Peabody exceeded the number served in Marion and Hillsboro combined, Charles said.
Both the association’s food bank fund and general fund are dangerously low, he said.
Peabody’s food bank doesn’t get food from the Kansas Food Bank.
“The problem is going to grow rapidly,” Charles said. “If you can’t make ends meet, what are you going to do? There’s not a ‘big’ need. It’s a huge need.”
Contributions to support the Peabody Association of Churches may be made to Vintage Bank, designating the Association of Churches General Fund.