North Texas Food Bank CEO Trisha Cunningham never thought she would see a greater crisis than when the COVID-19 pandemic hit food-insecure residents.
Now the federal government has shut down, cutting disbursements of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program this month that helps feed 416,000 Dallas County residents.
Although the Trump administration confirmed on Monday it would partially fund the program during the shutdown after two federal judges ruled it must use contingency money to continue benefits, the remaining gap leaves residents in dire need, Cunningham said.
To help make up for the loss of federal SNAP benefits, the Dallas County Commissioners Court on Tuesday voted unanimously to grant $1 million to the North Texas Food Bank’s food distribution efforts during the shutdown.
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The money will help pay for bags of produce and 25-pound boxes of pantry staples like beans, pasta and rice that will be distributed at special sites throughout the month for SNAP recipients. Each bundle can provide 30 meals, Cunningham said.
“We never want anyone in our community to get into a situation where they’re having to make a decision between having to pay their rent and staying housed or buying food,” Cunningham said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.
Enrique “Rick” Rodriguez, manager of Social Service Assistance for the North Texas Food Bank, stands in front of the North Texas Food Bank SNAP Mobile in Dallas’ Pleasant Grove neighborhood on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
As the fifth-highest food-insecure county in the United States, Dallas County is being hit particularly hard by the SNAP cutbacks. The 12 counties served by the nonprofit food bank have a combined $81 million delay in benefits this month — $56.5 million of that is in Dallas County.
“To have these SNAP benefits dropped all of a sudden for our neighbors here is catastrophic,” Cunningham said.
North Texas Food Bank officials have worked with the Texas Health and Human Services 211 service to alert local SNAP recipients of the distribution sites.
According to Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins, the Dallas City Council will consider its own grant of $1 million later this month for the food bank. Businessman Mark Cuban also donated $500,000 to assist with the SNAP emergency, Cunningham said.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Jenkins said 39% of Dallas County’s SNAP recipients are children, and “a great number” are seniors, meaning the community must step up to support them in crisis.
“It is people who have come to rely on this food to keep them from being hungry,” Jenkins said. “This program also helps our grocery stores, particularly our grocery stores near food deserts, as they have a reliable source to sell products. So this is a ripple effect across the food system.”
Cunningham could not estimate how many more meals will be needed through November as opposed to a typical month before the shutdown. But the food bank’s 500 distribution partners have already seen increased demand this year due to inflation and rising costs of food and living.
“We know that many people were already in a situation where they were suffering” before the shutdown, Cunningham said.
Still, food banks are not equipped to make up for the gap in SNAP benefits long-term.
In typical times, the food bank can provide three meals for $1, but that largely comes from donations, Cunningham said. For the SNAP emergency program, the organization had to go to market to buy additional food for the emergency kits.
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Before the government shutdown, North Texas Food Bank was already facing a crisis. Cunningham said the organization lost $12 million this year through funding program cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency.
In order to keep feeding families, the board approved a fiscal year 2026 budget that had a $10 million deficit, Cunningham said. Then the shutdown hit.
For residents who want to help, they can check the food bank’s website for volunteer opportunities to help pack the emergency boxes being distributed to SNAP recipients. Cunningham also encouraged donations to food pantries and the food bank and said people can offer to help their neighbors with gift cards to grocery stores to cover the SNAP losses.
“With SNAP benefits being cut, many families in our community will face tough choices between paying for food, rent and other essentials,” County Commissioner Elba Garcia told The News. “Dallas County is ready to help our families, children and communities in need.”