Jacqueline Scott shuffled into the Dove Springs Recreation Center early Tuesday morning. She got in line, along with more than 300 others, and waited to pick out bags of fresh produce, eggs, milk and other pantry staples the Central Texas Food Bank was giving out.
Scott relies on the food bank to supplement what's in her fridge and pantry. But this month, she's having to lean on the organization more than usual. Scott said she was supposed to receive her food benefits from theSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on Nov. 1, but that day came and went. She normally receives $56 a month.
“We didn’t get them on the first, and we don’t know when we’re going to get them,” she said. “Every little bit helps. It might not be a lot, but it’s a lot to me.”
The Central Texas Food Bank has seen demand soar exponentially since the government shutdown began on Oct. 1. The food bank is offering 10 more distribution events this month than it usually does to accommodate for the roughly 270,000 people in Central Texas experiencing SNAP delays and more than 74,000 federal employees in Central Texas who haven’t received a paycheck in over a month due to the government shutdown.
In Travis County, there are about 87,000 people who receive food stamp benefits and about 9,000 federal employees.
Beth Corbett, vice president of government affairs and advocacy at the Central Texas Food Bank, said the organization has spent an additional $1 million each week of the government shutdown, and it has seen at least a 50% increase in demand at its food distributions.In some cases, it’s been far greater.
“I did the one in Pflugerville last week and it was at least twice as crowded, I’d say almost three times as crowded as normal times,” Trey Oprendek, who has volunteered for Central Texas Food Bank for four years, said. “It’s not surprising … there’s a lot of people in need.”
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission began dispensing partial SNAP payments Monday . Corbett said the food bank has received confirmation that some families have received benefits, but many families are hanging in the balance or have received far less than usual.
Feeding Texas, a statewide network of food banks in the state, has a calculator recipients can use to see what percentage of their usual benefits they will receive. For example, a family of four that normally receives $400 a month will only receive $52 under the partial payouts, according to the calculator's estimate.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court extended a court order blocking full SNAP payments until the end of the day Thursday. Additionally, the U.S. Senate passed legislation Monday that could help end the government shutdown and resume SNAP payments. That funding bill now moves to the House.
In the meantime, Scott said the food bank will get her through Thanksgiving. She has two kids and several grandchildren to feed.
“I’m going to have a house full,” she said. “So it came in handy, it came in handy.”
