From OSV News:
Days before a looming lapse in federal food assistance programs, Catholic Charities USA, the network organization dedicated to carrying out the domestic humanitarian work of the Catholic Church in the United States, announced a national fundraising effort to provide an emergency supply of food to Catholic Charities agencies around the country.
Funding for SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a major part of the nation’s social safety net — is scheduled to lapse Nov. 1 due to the federal government shutdown, the Trump administration said.
About 42 million Americans rely on SNAP. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that in fiscal year 2023, 79% of SNAP recipient households included either a child, an elderly individual or a nonelderly individual with a disability.
CCUSA said Oct. 30 all funds raised through this effort will be used to buy and ship food directly to its partner agencies around the country that operate food pantries, soup kitchens, food delivery programs and other efforts to serve those facing hunger or food insecurity.
“For low-income families and individuals who rely on SNAP and WIC to put food on their tables, this could be a catastrophic moment,” Kerry Alys Robinson, CCUSA president and CEO, said in a statement. “The Catholic Charities network stands ready to come to the aid of our vulnerable brothers and sisters during this time of dire need.”
A lapse in SNAP benefits would mark the first time in modern history there was such a disruption to the program, which is fully funded by the federal government, with the U.S Department of Agriculture administering the program through the states, and administrative costs split between the states and the federal government.
On its website, the USDA posted a notice that said, “Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01.” The message blamed Senate Democrats for the ongoing stalemate.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told Fox News Oct. 28 that the department “does not have the $9.2 billion that it would require” to fund the program.
The New York Times offered this glimpse into what could be coming:
Every year around this time, Sandra Bullaro is usually busy starting to prepare for family gatherings as the holiday season begins. “I’m Italian,” said Ms. Bullaro. “We have big families. We usually have beautiful holidays.”
But this year, she said, “we’re not having that.”
Ms. Bullaro, 70, is one of the roughly three million New Yorkers who rely on food stamps, which will lose federal funding on Saturday amid the government shutdown. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday declared a state of emergency because of the looming cutoff and promised more than $100 million in state funding to help fill the gap.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP or food stamps, provides about $650 million in benefits to New Yorkers each month. More than a fifth of recipients in the state are 60 or older, a group especially vulnerable to harm from the funding halt because they might not be able to pick up jobs for more money or wait in long lines at food pantries.
Many may not even be aware of the potential trouble ahead because the state said it would not notify recipients about changes through the mail, which many older people rely on instead of the internet.
Ms. Bullaro, a retired health care worker, said she receives $292 per month in food stamps, just under the maximum allotment for a single person. Without it, she said she most likely will be limited to meals with eggs, bread and pasta.
“SNAP is affecting me in every way,” said Ms. Bullaro, who lives in Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan and has used food stamps for nearly a decade. “I have to see what I have after I pay my bills because that’s more important, to keep a roof over my head, than to eat.
“I could have a cup of coffee; I could have a piece of toast.”
The amount New York has allocated for emergency assistance is only about 16 percent of what the state normally receives from the federal government each month, and some experts and advocates believe food pantries are not the right place to send it. Many SNAP recipients are not used to going to food pantries because food stamps can be used at many grocery stores and bodegas and certain restaurants.
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