South Florida nonprofit food distributors already pressured by tight money and limited supplies are gearing up for what is potentially their biggest challenge of the year: helping low-income residents who stand to lose federal nutrition benefits by the end of this week.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) may run dry if the government remains largely idle into November and the U.S. Department of Agriculture follows through on a pledge to withhold between $5 billion and $6 billion in contingency funds.
Those backup funds, the agency asserted in a recent memo, are for emergencies including storms such as Hurricane Melissa.
Where SNAP now stands
On its website, the Florida Department of Children and Families, which administers the SNAP program in the state for some 2.9 million recipients, has announced that benefits for November “will not be issued until federal funding is restored.”
“You may receive notices about your eligible benefit amount, but you will not receive any benefits deposited to your EBT card during this time,” the notice says. “The Department is monitoring the federal government shutdown closely and will notify you as soon as we can resume issuing benefits, and any updates will be posted to this webpage.”
Benefits for October have been issued as scheduled. Beneficiaries can check their balances by visiting ebtEDGE.com.
Applicants seeking to join the program or to renew their participation do not need to reapply, the DCF says.
But unless the government reopens by Nov. 1 or allocates any portion of the contingency money, SNAP dollars will stop flowing in less than a week.
The Trump Administration also has said that states temporarily covering the cost of food assistance for November will not be reimbursed.
“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement. “At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01.”
There have been no reports of any emergency state initiatives to fill the void in Florida. The DCF did not respond to an emailed inquiry on the subject.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that federal law clearly calls for contingency money to be distributed in the event of a lapse in government funding. She said the onus rests with President Donald Trump to ensure the money keeps flowing.
“Food assistance shouldn’t be an issue at all,” she said. “All Trump has to do is release the food assistance funds.”
She said 32,000 of her constituents — senior citizens, veterans and families with children — rely on the federal food assistance program each month.
“The law specifically references a lapse in funding,” Wasserman Schultz said, referring to the circumstances under which contingency money can be released. “They have also already cut SNAP by $186 billion earlier this year. They’re making a choice to take food assistance away from Americans next month.”
Burden on nonprofits
Local nonprofits that have been focused on helping furloughed federal workers and potential storm victims impacted by Hurricane Melissa are turning their attention to helping those in the SNAP program.
United Way Broward County said it is offering a menu of services.
“Our team is vigorously preparing to meet the increased demand for critical services that often follows a government shutdown,” Maria Hernandez, chief impact officer, said in an email.
“We’re focused on ensuring that individuals and families continue to have access to the essential resources and support they need — this includes basic essentials like food, water, health and wellness, and shelter.”
Hernandez said United Way intends to purchase food and will distribute it via the organization’s Project Lifeline. ”We are also planning to set up a distribution site in our office,” she said.
She urged those in need of help to dial 2-1-1 for information about free resources.
Growing need for dollars, supplies
“We’re looking at a lot of families who are going to be kicked off food stamps,” said Paco Velez, president and CEO of Feeding South Florida, which maintains distribution operations in Pembroke Park and Boynton Beach. “That is going to add to the families who are struggling.”
“We are working with our community. We are working with our national association Feeding America,” he said.
The organization, which helped feed thousands of people during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as during the last government shutdown six years ago, operates from Palm Beach to Monroe counties.
The Pembroke Park outlet operates 8 a.m. through 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. through 5 p.m. on Saturdays.
The Boynton Beach outlet operates between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
People should call ahead for appointments.
“We will never turn anybody away,” Velez said. “We want to make sure if families need assistance they know we are here.”
In South Palm Beach County, Boca Helping Hands operates food pickup locations in Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Boca Raton and West Boca.
The organization provides food, medical, and financial assistance to help individuals and families. It is offering pantry bags to local federal employees thrown out of work by the shutdown. The group, citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, says there are an estimated 7,100 U.S. Government workers in Palm Beach County.
“We did 4.2 million meals last year,” said Dr. Andrew Hagen, the executive director. “Most of [the clients] are seniors having trouble with making ends meet, especially with inflation. Of course, you have your low-wage workers.”
To survive in Palm Beach County, Hagen said, “you need to make $25 an hour if you are a single person. A lot of jobs like McDonald’s are half that and the Florida minimum wage is $14.”
The organization’s food sources include local supermarkets such as Publix as well as restaurants.
“We did decide to welcome the federal workers who were unemployed last week to receive food,” he said.
“We will do the best we can with the SNAP,” Hagen said. “It’s really going to be up to the community to open up their hearts this Thanksgiving season and maybe they can see their way to donate to food programs like ours.”