At Dallas’ Concord Church, volunteers gathered at the food pantry for a Saturday mission.
“We’re going to empty it, so we can fill stomachs and fill lives today, because that’s what we’re here for,” said Pastor Bryan Carter.
Carter said they were prepared to give out free groceries to 500 families, who started lining up three hours before distribution time.
“We just believe based on the recent SNAP benefits ending and along with so many in our community that are hurting for the furloughed workers, today we’re giving out food boxes to our community,” he said.
The US Department of Agriculture said it would freeze payments to SNAP starting Saturday, citing a lack of funding due to the ongoing government shutdown.
On Friday, two federal judges ruled that the Trump Administration had to use contingency funds to keep the program running, but on social media, the President said he needed more clarity, first.
NBC 5 reached out to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to ask if the agency had a timeline on when Texans would get their benefits restored.
“The Texas Health and Human Services Commission continues to monitor how the federal government shutdown may impact benefits. We are awaiting guidance from (The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service),” a spokesperson wrote in an email on Saturday.
The agency directed people to their website and FAQ section for more information.
In the FAQ section, the agency states that although no new benefits will be added to SNAP accounts until “new federal guidance, when the shutdown ends, or both,” any remaining balances from previous months can still be accessed and used.
In Dallas, some folks like Santos Garcia were already running on empty.
Garcia said his SNAP cards for his kids were blocked, and he was grateful for the Catholic Charities of Dallas’ food drop on Saturday, so that he could provide at least a little bit of food for his four kids, he said.
Catholic Charities of Dallas CEO Dave Woodyard said they had already been seeing an increase in registrations over the past few months, and expects the need to pile up as long as SNAP benefits are paused.
“We’ll run the trucks more often, make more frequent drops and stops, all contingent on the fact that the North Texas Food Bank is the provider of the food,” Woodyard said.
He said the Food Bank supplies the food for their events, and was already running low, if not already out of, protein.
“So, we’re distributing as much as we can,” Woodyard said.
A mission the community is ready to continue.
“We believe this is going to be a long haul, not just today, but every day,” Pastor Carter said.
Regular pantry hours will continue at 6969 Pastor Bailey Drive in Dallas Mondays from 1 pm to 5 pm, Tuesdays from 3 pm to 5:30 pm, and from 10 am to 2 pm on Thursdays.
Weekly distributions will continue through Dec. 11.
You can find more information on both the fixed pantries and mobile food pantries for the Catholic Charities of Dallas here.
Hungry? In need of food?
If you’re hungry and need nutritious, free food, you can call 2-1-1 for the latest information on the SNAP program and find alternative food resources from area food banks, food pantries and other community resources.
If you need food and live in Bosque, Cooke, Denton, Erath, Hamilton, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell, Tarrant or Wise counties, search the Tarrant Area Food Bank website for food pantries.
If you need food and live in Collin, Dallas, Delta, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Lamar, Navarro, or Rockwall counties, search the North Texas Food Bank website for food pantries.
If you need food and live elsewhere in Texas, Visit the Feeding Texas website to find your local food bank and food pantries.
SNAP benefits nationwide and in Texas
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