As the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) remains paused due to the federal government shutdown, community members have been doing what they can to assist Bucks County food banks, writes Lacey Latch for the Bucks County Courier Times.
In Bucks County, SNAP provides around $8.6 million to over 47,000 individuals a month on average.
Unfortunately, local food pantries have been struggling to keep up with demand.
“The No. 1 issue that’s coming up right now is demand … we’re getting people calling us left and right. It’s almost like the perfect storm in terms of demand between government workers that are furloughed — there’s about 4,000 here in Bucks County — and people losing their SNAP benefits,” said Mike Cerino, the Warminster Food Bank’s executive director.
Thankfully, the food bank has received generous donations from residents and businesses, which have helped their efforts. The ShopRite in Warminster donated $10,000.
The Quakertown Food Pantry has similarly received an outpouring of support from local donors through Venmo and PayPal.
One of their recent food collections brought in over 2,000 pounds of groceries.
“The community has responded very graciously, very kindly,” Cerino said. “They see the news reports and they’re responding very kindly so we’re really grateful for that kind of support, but if this continues, we’re going to be in trouble.”
Read more about Bucks County food banks and how communities are stepping up during the SNAP pause in the Bucks County Courier Times.
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