TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Millions of families in Florida count on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – better known as SNAP benefits – to buy groceries each month.
Those checks will come to a halt later this week, Nov. 1, unless Congress agrees to end the federal government shutdown or the State of Florida steps in to cover the costs temporarily.
Families in Tallahassee are hoping for a resolution fast, and they’re trying to come up with a backup plan if their SNAP benefits are cut off later this week.
The Oasis Center for Women & Girls is trying to stock its shelves as soon as possible to help.
The Oasis Center for Women & Girls, pictured above. The organization is currently working to provide food for dozens of families who may lose their SNAP benefits by the end of the week. (Julie Montanaro/WCTV)
The center’s lobby was already stacked full of boxes on Tuesday, with deliveries made within 24 hours following a plea for help on social media.
Kelly Otte, the center’s executive director, said 85 women and children it serves will be without SNAP benefits by the week’s end.
“We have working people in this community who will no longer be able to feed their children as of Friday,” Otte said.
Raven James, a women’s counselor at the center, said the uncertainty adds another level of pressure for families.
“It brings our moms a lot of anxiety and stress, not knowing where they’re going to get their next meal for the kids,” she said.
WCTV spoke with one of those moms by phone, a woman with disabilities doing her best to care for her three-year-old child.
She said she’s really “still in shock about it … and doesn’t know what to do.”
The woman says she is counting on help from her family, the Oasis Center, and is actively looking for food drives and giveaways to try to help her get through November.
“We have employed moms who are working in steady jobs who cannot afford to feed their kids and pay rent and pay childcare and do all the other things,” Otte said. “So if they don’t have it, where are they getting it?”
The Oasis Center posted a wish list on Amazon and hopes the donations keep rolling in, because no one really knows how long it’ll be before the shutdown is over and SNAP benefits are restored.
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