Food pantries see post-shutdown surge
Federal food assistance payments came early and now are running out
The 35-day partial government shutdown ended weeks ago, but its impact can still be felt in the bustling food pantry at Northside Common Ministries.
On Tuesday morning, dozens of shoppers at the pantry in a former church basement selected bags of bread and produce such as carrots, apples and oranges from metal shelves.
The lengthy shutdown meant people receiving assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called food stamps, got their monthly payment for February far earlier than usual. That’s resulted in a long period — close to two months for some recipients — between the time they received February benefits and when they will get March benefits. Local food assistance groups say they are seeing an impact.
Pantry coordinator Jana Thompson said she doesn’t have monthly totals yet, “but we are definitely busy,” and she said that on a recent Wednesday, when the pantry would normally see about 30 clients, there were 80.
Because of the shutdown, February benefits were issued electronically Jan. 16 and 17 — that’s 16 to 29 days earlier than normal, according to the state Department of Human Services.
State officials notified recipients of the change. Candace Firestone, who was at the pantry Tuesday, said she heard about the change after her mother saw news reports about it.
But the message didn’t get through to everyone.
Some folks didn’t realize the extra payment in January was their February benefit. Others did know but thought they had to use it by a certain time, said Traci Weatherford-Brown, chief advancement officer at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
“I think people were feeling very uncertain about what was going on with the government in general and weren’t really trusting that that money was going to be there,” Ms. WeatherfordBrown said.
Many people also incorrectly believed the funds had to be spent by the end of January, according to a statement from the Department of Human Services.
“Following the early benefit payment, DHS received calls from SNAP recipients asking about rumors that benefits had to be spent by the end of January or they would expire. This was not true, but SNAP spending over January shows that the early payments were spent very quickly, and SNAP recipients may soon run out of funds for February,” the department said earlier this month.
The benefits to more than 1.8 million Pennsylvanians are normally distributed over the first 10 business days of the month, so benefits for March will begin going out March 1 and finish March 14.
Some states are issuing their March benefits earlier than normal to help minimize the long wait, but Pennsylvania is not among them.
“We decided to return to our normal schedule to avoid more instances of people being off their normal benefit schedule and having to wait longer periods for a payment,” said Ali Fogarty, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services.
The governor’s office, in a statement earlier this month, asked Pennsylvanians to consider donating to local food banks.
Anecdotally, the food bank has heard from member pantries “that they are seeing an increased need and it is related to folks who are using SNAP,” Ms. Weatherford-Brown said.
The food bank also runs its own emergency food distribution program from its Duquesne headquarters. There, from mid-January to mid-February, it has seen an additional 145 households that have specifically cited that their need was due to the early release of SNAP.
“That’s a big number for us,” she said.
Recipients who have questions about their SNAP benefits can contact their local county assistance office or call the statewide customer service center at 1-877395-8930.