After the Trump administration said it won’t tap emergency funds to cover federal food benefits starting Nov. 1, San Antonio Food Bank officials said they’re preparing to do all they can to make sure no households here go hungry.
“Nobody should go to bed hungry, not a child or a senior or a military family, and we want our
community to know we will have food and have their backs while the shutdown continues,” SA Food Bank CEO Eric Cooper said in a statement. “San Antonio knows how to step up in times of disaster, and we will need everyone to meet this storm. The government is shut down but we are open for business!”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture posted an online notice over the weekend saying it won’t make the next distribution of payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as SNAP or food stamps.
Roughly 1 in 8 Americans use SNAP to buy groceries. In Texas, the halt could cut off $614 million in food aid to 3.5 million people, including 1.7 million children.
As a result, the SA Food Bank anticipates it will need 50% more food than on normal weeks. That’s the equivalent of an extra 12 to 13 tractor-trailer loads of food on top of the 25 loads the organization already distributes weekly.
“We will do whatever is required of us, even emptying the warehouse if that is what is needed,” Cooper said. “But, going big will also mean everyone will need to help: volunteers, financial donors, and food donors. We can do this San Antonio.”
Area residents needing food and other support can find reach out to the Food Bank online.
Those who want to donate or volunteer can also do so via the nonprofit’s website.
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