Central Florida food banks are seeing an uptick in people who are coming to them for food since SNAP benefits ran out Nov. 1.
Initially, federal and state officials said the benefits wouldn’t be processed during the month of November, as long as the government shutdown continued, impacting nearly half a million Central Floridians and 3 million Floridians.
Federal judges, however, ordered the Trump administration to use the contingency funds it has available for SNAP. Now, the administration says it will pay for half of this month’s benefits, and those payments will be delayed.
Experts warn a full month’s benefit is already meager for a family of four.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida works with over 870 feeding partners in seven counties, including The Neighborhood Center of South Lake.
The center’s CEO, Patricia Kry, said that on Saturday, the day the benefits weren’t added to EBT cards, they served more people than they have on any other weekend on record: 62 clients compared to 50.
Then Tuesday, the first day of their week, Kry said there was such a long line of people, wrapped around the block, needing food she wouldn’t be surprised if the food drop-off went late.
“For us to see 150 families in three and a half hours is just really pushing it. It's going to stretch out. You know, instead of three hours, it'll be four or five hours to get everybody through and to get everybody fed,” Kry said.
“And you know, we're talking like in a week of pushing out 31,000 pounds worth of food.”
Kry says people are panicking. She says no SNAP benefits means families and individuals are losing a monthly stipend that they’ve come to depend on to buy milk and food at grocery stores and farmer’s markets.
She tells the story of a federal worker at the airport who came into the food bank Tuesday morning.
“Because how are you going to make it if you’re not getting paid at your job and you're not getting the benefits from the government for SNAP?” Kry asked.
Heart of Florida United Way’s 211 Vice President Catherine Rea said calls to the hotline for food have gone up by 71% between September 5 and November 3 of this year “and we are attributing this largely due to the federal government shutdown and probably the SNAP benefits, as well.”
She said phone operators are working longer hours, as calls for food assistance increase.
“We have been having to have some of our staff who are willing to pick up extra hours in order to fulfill the requests and the contacts and the calls,” Rea said.
In the coming weeks, she’s asking callers to remember to “be patient as sometimes our call lines are backed up a little bit, and we try to answer them as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Rea said. "But I also ... remember that, unfortunately, there may not be adequate resources out in the community or programs or services to meet all the needs.”
She said 211 also provides referrals and information about programs in the community that can assist with rental assistance, which will become crucial if the shutdown continues.
At a press conference in Jacksonville Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he won’t be releasing emergency food assistance from the state but that the Florida Department of Agriculture will provide extra food to food banks.
“Our Department of Agriculture under Commissioner Wilton Simpson, they're mobilizing because you have great communities throughout the state that produce food, and we have food banks, and so they're doing that. They're going to be doing more. And I think that that's great,” DeSantis said.
Orange County mayor and gubernatorial hopeful Jerry Demings has called on county commissioners to release an additional $1 million for emergency food assistance “to assist with any issues that may be unknown that could impact our families here as a result of the suspension of the SNAP program.”
Osceola County commissioners voted Monday to make available up to $1 million in emergency food assistance, too. It will be provided to food pantries, especially for SNAP recipients.
But Kry said more food or not, food banks don’t have the capacity to help this many more people.
“The problem is, there's only so many people you can cycle through your system in a day,” Kry said. “You don't have limitless capacity to see more and more people.”
Kry said what they need right now is more money to buy the specific foods and other items that their clients need and for SNAP benefits to be paid out.
She said the food bank can always use more volunteers.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida says searches for food using its food locator tool are up by 300% since the government hasn’t recharged EBT cards this month.
On top of SNAP benefits not being processed this month, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, benefits have also been delayed for many of the 420,000 families in Florida who use them.
WIC benefits provide supplemental nutrition assistance to pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to the age of 5 who are at nutritional risk.
To find food:
- Use Second Harvest’s food locator tool to find your nearest food bank. Click here.
- Call 2-1-1 to be connected with a Heart of Florida United Way operator who can help you find food. Learn more here.
To help:
- Volunteer at Second Harvest or one of its partners by clicking here.
- Learn about setting up a food drive or donating in other ways here.
