SNAP shortfall strains local food network

At the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank, shelves once stacked to the ceiling with boxes of food now stand empty. 

Inventory is half of what it was in January due to lower levels of federal funding and fewer contributions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said President and CEO Kathy McCollum.

The food bank serves 24 counties around the region and distributed more than 10 million pounds of food last year. According to McCollum, food insecurity is a “year-round” problem, with 117,510 regional residents struggling to locate their next meal or even just secure a healthy meal.

Benefits paid to local residents through the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — commonly known as SNAP — are in limbo as a government shutdown lingers. The federal government ceased many of its operations on Oct. 1 due to partisan congressional squabbles over spending levels, health insurance subsidies and foreign aid.

Despite billions of dollars in contingency funding set aside for SNAP benefits, the Trump administration elected to suspend November assistance payments. After a coalition of more than 24 states sued over the matter, a federal judge on Oct. 31 ordered the administration to pay November benefits — often known as “food stamps” — from those set-aside funds.

According to a Nov. 3 report in The New York Times, the administration “opted against using its full stable of available funds” to fund full SNAP payments and will instead only permit partial payments — around 50% of usual aid amounts — to the approximately 42 million Americans sustained through SNAP. It is also unclear when November assistance will arrive.

With the SNAP funding cut and disbursal delay, McCollum said she is expecting an increased strain on the food bank’s resources and services. She noted that for every meal her organization provides, food stamps supply six.

In 2024, 23% of Bibb County’s population of 157,056 residents received SNAP benefits. Each year, nearly half a billion dollars — $422 million in 2023 — in federal food assistance was paid to residents of Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, which spans parts of the middle and southwest portions of the state, according to the nonprofit Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

“There’s no way with the inventory levels like we have, even if all of our shelves were full, that we could just magically take care of seven times the need that we’ve been addressing,” McCollum said.

Local ministries stretch to fill gaps

The 161 pantries that order food and other supplies from the food bank will see the most impact from the SNAP situation, she said.

Many of those operations — with more than 50 in Macon — are managed by churches or other ministry groups and have limited schedules.

One of those Macon-based operations, Fountain of Hope, is attempting to manage higher demand but struggling to keep up with community needs. The nonprofit is powered by four local churches, which pool their resources to provide free hot meals to those in need. The group also manages two physical storerooms.

Fountain of Hope founder Levornia Franklin Jr. said his organization delivers 100 meals each week to community refrigerators and shelters and even to motels housing local residents.

“We cannot keep refrigerators full. We can fill them to the brim, within two hours, the refrigerators are gone, both of them,” he said. “It’s gonna probably pick up because people rely on those food stamps. SNAP is major.”

After the government shutdown started in October, visits to The Salvation Army food pantry in Macon spiked, said Latresa White, the organization’s local social services director. Workers there fill grocery bags full of dried beans and canned vegetables, she said.

“We don’t know what the upcoming days hold,” White added. “All that we know is that we’re always accepting donations … so that we can continue to help and meet that immediate need.”

‘All of us can do something’

Retailers like Kroger and Walmart — plus local operations like the BrightFarms hydroponic greenhouse — donate food to McCollum’s regional organization, which also accepts item and monetary donations from the general public. The food bank sends collected items to its pantry network and uses donated cash to further supply those groups, she said.

McCollum said monetary donations help the organization fill in gaps and meet vast community needs.

“When I first got here during the COVID pandemic, it was amazing to see the support coming — and we’re seeing that now,” she said.

The Bibb County Commission approved $150,000 to fight food insecurity in Macon during a Nov. 4 meeting. 

The recipients of the funds include the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank, The Society of St. Andrew, Forest Hills Methodist Church, Loaves and Fishes, Mother’s Nest, Salvation Army, Brookdale Resource Center, Mentor’s Project, Community Church of God, St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry and C-QUL, as announced at a Nov. 5 press conference at the food bank.

That community support is also manifesting through local businesses. For example, Sweet Eleanor’s Divine Desserts in Macon is offering free sausage biscuits to those who show their EBT cards. The eatery also recently offered discounts for employees furloughed during the shutdown.

Owner Scott Mitchell said he felt compelled to help those in need — and that he wants to make sure community members don’t go hungry.
“Sometimes people want to help and don’t know how,” Mitchell said. “All of us can do something.”

How you can help

— Volunteer your time or donate food or money to the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank. Learn more about their needs and ways you can plug in at mgcfb.org.

— Connect with or contact Fountain of Hope at facebook.com/FountainofHopeMacon.

— Give to the Macon Corps of The Salvation Army at southernusa.salvationarmy.org/macon.

— Call your favorite community-based nonprofit organization and ask them for ways you can help them. Over the next few weeks, The Macon Melody will feature ways you can do just that, so stay tuned.