Volunteers pack boxes of food and supplies for people in need at the JRA warehouse in March 2024. Photo credit: Aaron Troodler
Food banks and other organizations tackling hunger are already feeling the impact of the five-week-old government shutdown, as the funding impasse has left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without a paycheck.
And the problem may get temporarily worse, as government payments for SNAP, the country’s largest food benefits program, were delayed before two federal judges ruled the Trump administration must fund the program for at least part of November.
Philadelphia-area food banks reported sharp increases in requests for assistance during October, far exceeding typical demand.
“It kind of reminds us a bit of when COVID happened and suddenly hundreds of people are reaching out for help,” said Steve Schauder, executive director of the Jewish Relief Agency.
JRA delivers kosher food to people throughout the greater Philadelphia area. Schauder said the agency typically sees around 30 to 50 assistance requests a week. Since Oct. 22, Schauder said, the organization has averaged around 55 requests per day.
Whitney Drukier, operations manager for the Mitzvah Food Program, which is part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, said her team has also seen an increase in people reaching out for help.
She said according to her team, people’s anxiety levels are running higher than they did during the COVID pandemic, because they don’t know how they’re going to provide for their families during the coming holiday season.
“We’ve already been in one time of unknown that’s been pretty recent, and so now we’re going into another time of unknown. And so I think it could be a sort of a mounting effect, but I do think that it’s telling, the fact that people are panicking more now,” Drukier said.
Outside of the federal furloughs and layoffs, and the resulting missed paychecks, one of the biggest concerns is the Trump administration announcing in mid-October that that SNAP benefits would not be distributed as of Nov. 1 if the shutdown continued.
If the benefits were cut off, it would have a massive impact on the greater Philadelphia region. Over one in four Philadelphia County residents receive SNAP benefits, along with 12.7% of Delaware County residents, 6.2% in Montgomery County and 7.5% in Bucks County, according to 2023 figures from the American Community Survey.
That totals nearly 250,000 households across the four counties.
Drukier said the Mitzvah Food Program is bracing for a November without SNAP, but it’s difficult to fully plan for such an unpredictable situation.
“I’m sure that as much as we are planning and trying to come up with every way possible to be able to serve, that there will be many bumps in the coming weeks and in the lead-up to the holidays,” Drukier said. “It’s really sad that this is all correlating right together, because holidays can be a stressful time for people, even though it is [generally] quite wonderful, and it’s being amplified with the [possible] SNAP cuts.”
Schauder said that SNAP cuts, if they occur, will have a ripple effect on people reaching out for assistance beyond food delivery.
“We anticipate that in addition to food, people are going to be calling for other means of assistance — financial assistance, clothing assistance, just all types of other types of needs,” Schauder said.
He offered advice to people impacted by the shutdowns who may be thinking of requesting food assistance for the first time.
“There’s a tremendous dignity in asking for help. We say there’s no shame in it, that we all have asked for help in our life, and that we are more than happy to be able to provide help,” Schauder said.
For Philadelphia residents looking for ways to support their neighbors during these difficult times, both Schauder and Drukier said their respective organizations are always looking for volunteers and food donations.
Schauder said that JRA is mostly focused on food assistance but is happy to be a place for people looking to help their communities through various other forms of aid.
Drukier said the Mitzvah Food Program has an Amazon page where people can buy items that will be distributed by the organization.
“Volunteering and any kind of financial assistance that anyone in the community [can offer], even if it’s some cans of tuna, it really does help. Every little thing helps,” Drukier said.