United Way of Central Minnesota Begins Emergency Food Shelf Funding Campaign

(KNSI) – The United Way of Central Minnesota has started a campaign to plug the hole left by the potential loss of SNAP benefits.

The group is set to provide emergency funding to local food shelves and hunger programs to help offset a potential surge in demand. Catholic Charities officials recently told KNSI News that, under normal circumstances, food shelves provide only one meal for every nine meals subsidized by the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. If that goes offline, it leaves a catastrophic gap that will be hard to square.

President and CEO Stephen Jones says, “When benefits are delayed, families face impossible choices. They must decide between groceries and gas, meals and rent, bills and other essentials. We’re stepping in to help bridge that gap.”

United Way of Central Minnesota will use funds from its Community Resiliency initiatives and is also asking for personal contributions. To give, follow this link. For those struggling, help is available here.

The ending of SNAP benefits could be short-lived, even if the government shutdown continues to drag on. A group of state attorneys general won a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruling on Friday that the agency needs to tap into contingency funds set up by Congress. It is unclear if those are enough to make it through another month.

The USDA has until Monday to agree to the demand or appeal. SNAP benefits end at midnight on Saturday, November 1st.

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