By The Herald Editorial Board
So, how have Snohomish County’s 18 food banks been preparing for an onslaught of demand as families throughout the county brace for the nationwide suspension of SNAP food assistance benefits that began today during a federal government shutdown that has lasted more than a month?
“Besides pulling out our hair?” responded Amy Howell, executive director for the Marysville Food Bank and treasurer for the Snohomish County Food Coalition, a cooperative effort of the county’s food banks.
That step — in reaction to a Congress dug in to its positions regarding the shutdown and a Trump administration that has refused to release contingency funds meant to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program operating during such an emergency — is figurative.
The literal and substantive steps had already started in recent weeks as the Marysville Food Bank and the other pantries reacted to a steadily growing increase in visits, Howell said: expanded hours and days for appointments, calls to volunteers to meet staffing needs for stocking shelves and packing distribution boxes, taking phone calls and emails seeking assistance, meetings to organize and plan, all to make sure as many people can be helped as possible, including those who may have never needed that assistance before and are making their first visit to a food bank.
“We do not turn anybody away. They may not be able to come in and shop, but we can provide them with a box of food to get them by until we can get them in for an appointment,” Howell said, during which they can chose from a selection of meat, produce, dry and canned goods and staples, hygiene supplies and more.
Marysville and the other food banks — already tasked with supplementing what families can provide for themselves alongside SNAP, formerly “food stamps,” and other government assistance programs — now are having to pick up the slack for federal assistance that has been suspended with no certainty to when it might resume.
SNAP provides in a pinch: Across America, SNAP provides an average of about $187 a month — $6 a day — for groceries for 1 in 8 Americans, 42 million who rely on that benefit to provide a portion of what’s served at their kitchen tables. In Washington state, more than 888,000 receive SNAP benefits, about 1 in 9 in the state, or 11 percent of the population.
The program is open to those who make no more than 130 percent of the federal poverty level; $20,345 annually for an individual or $41,795 for a family of four. In Washington state, 71 percent of SNAP participants are at or below the poverty level, $15,650 for an individual and $32,150 for a family of four, while a third make half or less of that level. Of state participants, 53 percent are in families with children, 38 percent are in families with members who are older adults or are disabled, and 37 percent are in families where one or more in the family work, according to a state-by-state fact sheet compiled by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The suspension of SNAP benefits has only added to expected cuts and new work requirements that Congress placed on the federal benefit earlier this year, Howell noted.
And food banks and anti-hunger programs across the country already were absorbing the loss of $1 billion in federal funding and supplies of commodities that were cut by the Trump administration earlier this year.
Stepping up to meet the need: Prior to recent increases and the suspension of SNAP, Marysville was serving 600 to 700 families each week, Howell said. It’s now expecting an additional 400 families to seek help, especially as the holidays approach.
Liz Jones, assistant director for the Lynnwood Food Bank, said its program has seen a 23 percent increase in visits in recent weeks, anticipating the cuts.
“It almost feels like the beginning of covid again,” Jones said of the increase. But that’s when everyone came together and pitched in to see what they could do for their community, she said.
Demand hasn’t eased as expected following the covid pandemic, she said. Lynnwood saw about 40,000 individual visits in 2019, Jones said. In 2024, that number had grown to 175,000 visits. And that was before the most recent increase in visits.
The coalition of 18 food banks in the county reports serving a total of 653,000 individuals among 199,000 households.
Loaves and fishes: Fortunately, that increase in need has been met by an increase in generosity among the communities where food banks operate
Tom Sweeney, executive director of the Mill Creek Food Bank, operated by the Hope Creek Charitable Foundation, is confident that the community’s generosity will meet the increased need, as it always has.
“We’ll have enough. It always seems to be we have enough,” he said. “I mean it’s that fish and loaves thing. The more we share, the more generous people are.”
Anything is appreciated Sweeney said. One gentleman, he said, stopped by and said he was on his way to Costco, asking what did they need.
Yet, the easiest way to donate is online. Some organizations encourage making a monthly donation that allows that food bank to better budget and plan, he said. You can also check food banks’ websites for lists of foods and supplies needed most.
Volunteers for the food banks also are needed to help meet the increased need.
At the same time, the state of Washington will be providing $2.2 million each week to state food banks from the state Department of Agriculture, as directed by the governor
That support is appreciated and helpful, Sweeney said, but even $2 million a week won’t go far among the more than 500 food banks in the state.
Reopen, restore and resume: What’s needed is action by Congress and the Trump administration to resume SNAP funding and reopen the federal government, restoring SNAP and other government services — including Head Start, funding for which also has been suspended — and allowing federal workers to return to jobs and receive paychecks.
Most immediately, the Trump administration should tap the contingency fund that Congress established and intended to continue SNAP and similar programs during a shutdown or other emergencies. Legal experts and members of Congress from both parties have questioned the administration’s reasoning that the contingency fund is “not legally available” for use during a shutdown.
But even that funding will eventually be exhausted if Congress does not resolve its impasse over government funding. Senate Democrats have withheld support for a Republican-backed continuing resolution on the budget, pending a deal to extend subsidies for Affordable Care Act health care plans for some 24 million Americans.
Either a compromise or commitment to negotiate a compromise is necessary.
Until then, the food banks are picking up the slack.
“Hopefully, by the time our fearless leaders figure it out and open the government back up again, we can kind of fill that gap.”
What you can do: Here’s the direct appeal to our readers: Your help is needed now.
Those who rely on this assistance are your neighbors. Some you may work with, or attend church with. The children of others eat their school lunches as they sit next to your child.
Jones and her Lynnwood staff talk with customers in the distribution lines and at the mobile food trucks.
“We’re hearing their stories and what they’re really struggling with,” Jones said. “Last week we had a 14-year-old girl come to the food bank, and she was worried we wouldn’t give her any food because of how old she was.”
The teen was able to take groceries back to her family. No one is turned away, and no proof of need is required or requested.
The clientele now, Jones said, includes families, many with working parents, seniors and those with disabilities.
Another regular customer is a husband, caring for a wife undergoing chemotherapy.
Every week, along with the groceries, he asks for a prayer, Jones said.
“He said he just wouldn’t be able to make it through without us being here as a social support as well as a nutritional support,” she said.
How to help
To find your nearest food bank and help support its work, go to the Snohomish County Food Coalition’s website at snocofood.org.
