Local food banks brace for end of SNAP benefits

Kaci Jones,

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – SNAP Benefits are set to run out on November 1st if Congress fails to reach a deal for funding. Local food banks are bracing for the impact of 1.4 million North Carolinians losing benefits. At Hearts United for Good, or HUG Charlotte – hundreds of families pick up food and other essentials for free every Wednesday.

“We’re about to see a devastation within our community that we’ve never seen before,” Bethany McDonald, Executive Director of HUG CLT said.

SNAP benefits will end for millions of Americans on October 31st because of the government shutdown.

“They can’t basically get along and figure it out and the trickle down comes to us and it comes to all the boots on the ground and grassroots groups are scrambling, doing everything we can,” McDonald said.

Data shows 80% of SNAP recipients are working, but they don’t make enough to cover the cost of food. The average household gets $332 dollars a month and October will be the last disbursement if Congress doesn’t reach a deal to end the federal shutdown.

“When parents are overloaded with stressors associated with financial struggles it increases the risk of children’s mental and emotional disorders, poor adult health, and child abuse and neglect,” Sharon Hirsch, CEO at Positive Childhood Alliance said.

Four in five North Carolina families participating in SNAP have either a child, senior or an adult with a disability. The supplies at HUG CLT are running low, but leaders are committed to keeping food on the table for anyone who needs it.

“We just want to make sure that our impact goes as far as possible and reaches as many people as possible, but we just really need the help from the public,” McDonald said.

HUG CLT is asking for the community to host food drives and fundraisers or whatever they can do to help. HUG Food Pantry is open every Wednesday from 5:30 to 7pm at their facility on 2920 North Tryon Street.

The Char-Meck Food Policy Council and the Mecklenburg County Health Department are working with area farmers markets to bridge the gap. If you show your EBT card at the market, you’ll get $50 in SNAP tokens to shop at the market, free and clear, for the month of November.