How are you stretching your dollar right now?

“We’re eating a lot of rice and noodles, surviving on like soup and vegetables,” said Toni Breshers.

Breshers typically receives about $480 a month in SNAP benefits for her and her son.

In her account right now?

“Sixteen cents! I’m gonna be honest, like 16 cents,” she said.

Breshers said she considers herself blessed to have a car and be healthy enough to pick up some jobs.

“I’m able to go, like, DoorDash and do stuff like that to… how do you say, fill the void that we don’t have for the moment, you know? But what happens when that dries up, too?” she said.

That’s why, even though she’s been to H-E-B’s Feast of Sharing event for the past few years, this one is different.

“This is a means because we’re supplementing for not having food stamps and stuff, so this is a way for me to feed my baby,” Breshers said.

Ricky Agers said he has no money in his SNAP account.

“Really, what I do is I’ll buy a noodle cup. But like, in order for me to save my money, I’ll wait probably ‘til like 11 or 12 o’clock– all day. I’ll probably buy like three drinks in the daytime, stay hydrated, and then around 11 or 12:00, that’s when I start eating, just so I can stretch my money,” Agers said.

He said it’s a lucky day when he can even do that.

“Some days I have it, some days I go without eating. That’s just how it goes,” he said.

Melissa Enriquez said she’s relying on the food pantries and her neighbors.

“Whatever I have left, I share with other people, our neighbors and that. And we all share together and help each other out and pass it on, pass it on,” she said.

“We’re just constantly waiting and waiting and waiting and nothing’s happening, it’s just like a whole bunch of waiting,” Breshers said.

Austin Jourde, General Manager of Central Market/H-E-B Fort Worth, said they expected to serve 10,000 meals on Wednesday, which is up from 7,000 meals last year.

He said they were also prepared to make 2,000 more per hour, if needed.

Jourde said in their recent food events, they’ve seen a 25% increase in people.

President Trump signed off on a funding bill just hours after the event, ending the government shutdown and lifting the freeze on SNAP benefits.

Hungry? In need of food?

If you’re hungry and need nutritious, free food, you can call 2-1-1 for the latest information on the SNAP program and find alternative food resources from area food banks, food pantries and other community resources.

If you need food and live in Bosque, Cooke, Denton, Erath, Hamilton, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell, Tarrant or Wise counties, search the Tarrant Area Food Bank website for food pantries.

If you need food and live in Collin, Dallas, Delta, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Lamar, Navarro, or Rockwall counties, search the North Texas Food Bank website for food pantries.

If you need food and live elsewhere in Texas, visit the Feeding Texas website to find your local food bank and food pantries.

Buy Salvage Food offers a searchable map to locate salvage grocery stores online and in your neighborhood.

SNAP benefits nationwide and in Texas