'Uncertainty' plaguing families, food shelves amid SNAP pause
Food shelves across the Twin Cities metro are bracing for an influx of need – as more than 400,000 Minnesotans lose access to SNAP funding Saturday morning.
In Dakota County, The Open Door Pantry is expanding hours. On Saturday, they opened for what they're calling 'temporary shutdown support' – a chance to provide an additional 30,000 pounds of food to families in need.
The additional service was something Open Door Executive Director Jason Viana says was needed – as more than 10,000 Dakota County families rely on SNAP funding.
"Families are facing the uncertainty of knowing in the face of rising grocery prices, they might not be able to afford the trip to the store to give their family what they need for the week," Viana said. "We're going to do anything we can to not turn anyone away without food."
Viana says this past week, community members dropped off hundreds of donated "to go bags" of groceries – enough to help drop-in clients in need.
"This is absolutely the closest thing we've felt to the pandemic since then. The thing that connects then and now is just the level of uncertainty," Viana said. "One vote, one agreement, and we can go back to our normal level of helping people. I hope that our leaders will come together and figure out a way to solve this."
A federal judge ruled that the Trump Administration has to fund SNAP benefits during the shutdown. The judge gave the option of either partially or fully funding SNAP. Court documents were filed Saturday stating a ruling by a Rhode Island judge ordering payments to SNAP must restart no later than Wednesday Nov. 5.