READING, Pa. – SNAP payments, the food assistance many families rely on every month, will not be paid in November. It’s part of the ongoing government shutdown and state budget impasse.
So today, we went to the Salvation Army in Reading to ask: What should families do now?
“We’re still committed to help as much as we can,” said Captain Hector Cid of the Salvation Army Reading. “We have here elements in place in our family services program, like walk-in assistance for food.”
The need, they say, is already growing.
“We do see people coming to our doors,” Captain Cid added. “I will say probably 20 to 30 families over the week for these kinds of services.”
State Senator Judy Schwank shared flyers confirming the scope of the problem: 2 million Pennsylvanians are affected, including about 59,000 recipients in Berks County.
If you already have money on your EBT card, you can still use it, but no new funds are being added for now.
If you need food, this Friday is a good day to prepare:
“We have a massive food distribution where, large-scale, we serve about 400 to 500 households every month,” said Captain Cid. “It happens the last Friday of the month, and we help out with food, any dry goods, any produce that we can acquire to eat as well.”