TEXAS – As the government shutdown continues, hundreds of thousands of Central Texans will soon lose their SNAP benefits.
The USDA has announced that funding has dried up for the program and payments will not be distributed for the month of November.
By the numbers:
August 2025 data from the Texas Health and Human Services reveals how many rely on the program for food assistance in just four counties:
Travis: 86,355Williamson: 30,262Hays: 16,472Bastrop:11,663Total: 144,752
When breaking down the age range of those enrolled in SNAP, data reveals that around half are under the age of 18. Here is the data for children enrolled in SNAP:
Travis: 42,275Williamson: 15,037Hays: 8,504Bastrop: 6,435Total: 72,251
For the month of August, over $26 million in SNAP payments were distributed for the four counties listed above. Without SNAP benefits, many families will now have to turn to food banks for help, some of which are already seeing a big uptick in activity.
What they’re saying:
“When I looked at the numbers for yesterday, that would have only included three days of service, we had 56 brand-new households that had walked through our door. That means they had never been here before and a lot of what we were hearing is that they had concerns about possibly not getting their benefits for the month of November,” says Tresha Silva, the executive director for the Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry.
Resources in Central Texas
What you can do:
If you’re in need of food assistance, you can call 2-1-1 or visit the 211texas.org website. There you can input your city and zip code to find the closest food pantries and banks, as well as their hours of operations.
The Central Texas Food Bank will also be hosting special food drives for the entire month of November for SNAP recipients. That schedule can be found on their website. There you can also find their schedule for their mobile food distribution as well as additional help for federal workers in need of food assistance.
Government shutdown: Nearly 1 month down
Staffing issues at the Austin airport is tied to the government shutdown, which has been going on for almost a month. A group representing hundreds of thousands of workers is calling on lawmakers to put an end to it now.
Feeding Texas also offers an interactive tool which allows you to find the nearest food banks statewide, including community kitchens and produce markets.
All Kerby Lane Cafés are also offering 20 percent of breakfast, lunch, and dinner to federal workers. All you have to do is show your federal I.D.
DoorDash is also waiving the cost of delivery and service fees for an estimated 300,000 orders for snap recipients at certain grocery stores.
The Source: Information from Texas Health and Human Services data and previous coverage
TexasTravis CountyWilliamson CountyBastrop CountyHays CountyFood and DrinkTexas Politics