'On the edge of a cliff': SnoCo food banks grapple with increased need

EVERETT — Snohomish County food banks are preparing for an influx of customers amid uncertainty for food assistance programs at the busiest time of the year for the nonprofit organizations.

Food banks across Snohomish County were already reeling from cuts to federal funding and increased demand from residents needing assistance. But funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, was set to lapse Saturday unless Congress passed a spending bill ending the government shutdown, or if the government tapped into emergency funds. SNAP — formerly known as food stamps — distributes benefits to about 42 million low-income Americans nationwide to buy nutritious food.

On Friday, a federal judge ruled that the government must allocate emergency funding as soon as possible to maintain the food benefits. But it’s unclear if SNAP payments for November will be reduced or delayed, The New York Times reported.

In 2023, the most recent year with data available, about 92,000 people in Snohomish County faced food insecurity, according to nonprofit Feeding America, just over 11% of the county’s population.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/on-the-edge-of-a-cliff-snoco-food-banks-grapple-with-increased-need/

Editorial: County’s food banks need your help to aid neighbors

By The Herald Editorial Board

So, how have Snohomish County’s 18 food banks been preparing for an onslaught of demand as families throughout the county brace for the nationwide suspension of SNAP food assistance benefits that began today during a federal government shutdown that has lasted more than a month?

“Besides pulling out our hair?” responded Amy Howell, executive director for the Marysville Food Bank and treasurer for the Snohomish County Food Coalition, a cooperative effort of the county’s food banks.

That step — in reaction to a Congress dug in to its positions regarding the shutdown and a Trump administration that has refused to release contingency funds meant to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program operating during such an emergency — is figurative.

The literal and substantive steps had already started in recent weeks as the Marysville Food Bank and the other pantries reacted to a steadily growing increase in visits, Howell said: expanded hours and days for appointments, calls to volunteers to meet staffing needs for stocking shelves and packing distribution boxes, taking phone calls and emails seeking assistance, meetings to organize and plan, all to make sure as many people can be helped as possible, including those who may have never needed that assistance before and are making their first visit to a food bank.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-countys-food-banks-need-your-help-to-aid-neighbors/