MENASHA, Wis. (WFRV) – Food pantries across the Fox Valley have been preparing for a possible pause in SNAP benefits amidst the ongoing government shutdown.
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According to Monica Clare, the Executive Director at St. Joseph’s Food Program, the pantry saw an increase in people coming through the doors over the last week, with nearly 100 more families than usual.
“It showed that people are concerned about where their food will come from if they can’t use their SNAP cards; it makes a big difference,” Clare said.
Thousands of people in our community rely on food share programs every month.
For Candice Nelson, a single mother of two, these benefits have helped her when she needed it most.
“Those benefits saved my life, they gave me some breathing room, they gave my kids stability when everything else felt uncertain, it gave me a chance to rebuild and get back on my feet, one paycheck and one meal at a time,” Nelson said.
Nelson emphasized that it’s about making sure her kids are able to eat every day.
“We weren’t out buying ourselves steak and lobster and treating ourselves like crazy, we were really just trying to get the basics,” Nelson said.
Local groups are preparing for an increase in demand for food.
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“Making sure that families are fed should be a nonpartisan issue, and we are calling on lawmakers to put people over politics and fully fund SNAP today,” Kids Forward Senior Policy Analyst Amanda Martinez said.
A pair of federal judges ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump and his administration must continue to fund SNAP using contingency funds, despite the shutdown.
