Communities donate meals and funds as US food aid remains in limbo

Source: Reuters

November 11, 2025 6:51 PM EST Updated 11 hours ago


LONGMONT, Colorado, Nov 11 (Reuters) - For Anthony DeSousa, the owner of two pizza shops in Estes Park and Longmont, Colorado, feeding the hungry is personal. He grew up in poverty in New York and his dad was in jail for most of his life, leaving his mother to raise him and his two brothers. "I know what it’s like to be a kid and starving, to check every cabinet in the house 15 times looking for food and never finding any," DeSousa said.

Since the beginning of November, he has served about 300 free pizzas, hundreds of chicken and pasta dinners and distributed over 600 pounds of beans and rice to those who show their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits card or a federal worker ID during the record-long federal government shutdown. DeSousa is part of an uptick in charitable donations and activities from businesses and individuals this month as a historic lapse in SNAP, also known as food stamps, has strained low-income households.

Some states have issued monthly benefits in full, some in part and some not at all while a dizzying legal battle plays out over whether the administration of President Donald Trump must fully fund November SNAP benefits. The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration for now to continue withholding about $4 billion from SNAP. The extended pause is set to expire Thursday.

Meanwhile, the key action is in the legislative branch. The U.S. Senate on Monday voted to advance a funding bill that would end the shutdown and fully fund SNAP benefits, with the House expected to take it as soon as Wednesday. Meanwhile, the country's nearly 42 million SNAP recipients have faced confusion and anxiety and made sacrifices like forgoing medication to make ends meet.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/communities-donate-meals-funds-us-food-aid-remains-limbo-2025-11-11/