Another move being caused by the partial shutdown of the federal government is the early delivery of SNAP benefits – formerly known as food stamps. Recipients of SNAP will be getting their February monthly benefits earlier than normal because of the shutdown. That has Western North Carolina’s major food bank worried.
In North Carolina, all SNAP recipients will receive benefits this Sunday January 20th, when they will show up on their EBT cards. But those benefits are expected to last until the end of February says MANNA Food Bank CEO Hannah Randall. “That is something that is different because people typically receive their SNAP benefits on different days depending on when they signed up," she says. "So people need to know that they are going to receive their full February benefit on January 20th, and try to budget as best they can accordingly.”
Randall explains this is worrisome because recipients may not realize they got their benefits early and that they’re expected to make them last over a longer timeframe. “It really is a supplement. It’s never enough for people to get by for a whole month," she says. "We really expect for there to be a very, very heavy load on our partner network in the latter half of February just due to the gap in communication (this will cause).”
SNAP is only paid for through February right now, so if the shutdown goes on that long, people won’t be getting their benefits at all for March. Randall doesn’t exactly have a description for how devastating that would be, but she does offer this number – for every one meal MANNA is able to provide currently, SNAP provides 12.
Meanwhile, MANNA is offering help to federal workers who not have not been paid during the shutdown and are in need of food. Tuesday and Friday afternoons from 3 to 6 p.m. for the rest of January (as long the shutdown continues) MANNA will open up its main location at 627 Swannanoa River Road in Asheville to federal workers. They'll need to show a valid federal ID to get free groceries.