Maryland and Delaware are moving to shore up funding for their food banks with the pending suspension of SNAP benefits in November due to the government shutdown. Delmarva Public Media's Don Rush has this look at the efforts by the food banks.
RUSH: Come November, many families will see their food stamps cut off due to the government shutdown. This is Don Rush. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program serves 680,000 people in Maryland. Of those, 270,000 are children.
KIMMEL: Our top priority is always to provide nutritious food to people in need, and that will not change.
RUSH: Meg Kimmel, president and CEO of the Maryland Food Bank.
KIMMEL: The Maryland Food Bank, and our partners, as I mentioned, have already been meeting historically high levels of demand, but what we have never seen before has been the loss of SNAP benefits. SNAP benefits were available during previous government shutdowns, and they were actually increased during the pandemic.
RUSH: She says that her organization's website has already received some 4,000 hit searching for food pantry sites. Maryland Food Bank is looking to buy as much as $3 million in free food for its 800 community partners. Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency late Thursday to send $10 million to the state's food banks to make up for the loss of the SNAP benefits. At the local level, organizations like Salisbury Urban Ministries are stepping in. It covers the Tri-County area and Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore. Executive Director, Debbie Donaway, says her organization has already been getting slammed with those coming to their doors seeking food assistance.
DONAWAY: The best thing is go to "Maryland Food Bank find food" on the internet. Then what they'll do is they'll put in their zip code and it will show them all the local food pantries that are within their area, and what's available in their community. I also notice on Facebook, they're doing a lot of listing of current food banks and food pantries where they're located.
RUSH: As for those seeking to give the organization donations, she says:
DONAWAY: Monetary donations, we can turn around to the Maryland Food Bank, pay an administrative fee, and get quite a bit more for our money. They get donated products. That's what we're looking at right now, is making a run to the Maryland Food Bank before our regular delivery to get ahold of some of those donated products. And then we're also getting calls from local individuals. We've gotten calls from churches: "What do you need?" Back to monetary donations, so we can go to the food bank and or canned meats. That's something that's easy to store and that's got a lot of protein.
RUSH: Meanwhile, in Delaware, governor Matt Meyer has declared a state of emergencyso that SNAP recipients can still get their benefits. Around 130,000 Delawareans get such assistance, with around 45,000 being children. The Food Bank of Delaware's, Kim Turner says that they've put a place on their website where people can get assistance. These range from the Catholic Charities in Milton and the community center in Rehoboth Beach to the Salvation Army in Seaford and Shepherd's office in Georgetown. But as the government shutdown continues, many families could find themselves out in the cold when it comes to nutrition. Kim Turner with the Food Bank of Delaware.
TURNER: We wouldn't want anybody to be left out in the cold. We're going to do all that we can to serve our community during this time. For every meal that a food bank provides, SNAP provides nine more. So it really is a significant source, but we're going to do whatever we can to make sure that we can get meals out to those in our community.
RUSH: But even if the government shutdown does end soon, many families may still have to deal with cuts in the SNAP benefits program that were enacted in the recent budget. This is Don Rush for Delmarva Public Media.
