Massachusetts communities preparing for SNAP benefits to expire
The donations are rolling into the Senior Activity Center in Methuen, Massachusetts as the city braces for an expected increase in the need for food assistance at the end of the week.
The city announced eight locations for people to drop off nonperishable food this week ahead of a make-shift food distribution center starting November 1. That's when SNAP benefits will no longer be available. The federally funded program is expected to run out of money because of the government shutdown.
"If our federal government can't get their act together, we will do our part," said Methuen Mayor D.J. Beauregard, Jr.
Free meals at Watertown restaurant
Local leaders and business owners are answering the call. Max Ritcey is using his Watertown restaurant as a home-base for donations this week.
He is also making meals on his own for SNAP recipients to order online and pick up in his restaurant, discretely, free of charge.
"Food is something people shouldn't go without," said Ritcey. "If I have the resources, I might not have the monetary at this point, but we have a community rallying around us that really wants to help."
More than 1M in Mass. receive SNAP benefits
More than 1.1 million Massachusetts residents (1 in 6) receive SNAP benefits. At roughly 16% of the population, the state has one of the highest per capita ratios in the country.
Governor Maura Healey was asked on Monday why the state wasn't planning to temporarily cover the cost of the federal funding shortfall like it did during the migrant housing crisis last year. "There is no way that a state, any state in the country, can begin to backfill," said Healey. "Nor should they have to when there is a contingency fund that was set up precisely for this moment that the President of the United States just needs to press go on."
Last week, the Trump administration signaled it would not tap into a contingency fund to keep SNAP benefits flowing while the government shutdown continues and suggested states that temporarily cover the costs would not be reimbursed.