On Saturday, November 1, people who rely on SNAP to put food on the table will not receive their benefits due to the ongoing government shutdown and decision by the USDA not to use emergency funds to support the program during the shutdown. The federal government is pulling the safety net out from under children, low-income working people, seniors, and people with disabilities. This is a devastating blow to 90,000 families in San Francisco and Marin – and millions more nationwide – who are already struggling.
We are already seeing a surge in demand for our services. Traffic to our food locator tool on our website has gone up 250% in the past week.
In the face of a crisis that was created by our federal government, we will work with our community to support impacted families and individuals.
Our Shutdown Community Response
- Direct cash assistance: we are proud to be in partnership with the city and county of San Francisco and the Crankstart Foundation to help provide gift cards to SNAP recipients in San Francisco to cover benefits in November. We are thrilled to see this happening, it’s an example of how public, private, and nonprofit partnerships can support our community. While we are concerned about what will happen if the shutdown lasts past November, we are relieved families in San Francisco will receive this temporary support this month. The Food Bank is actively advocating and mobilizing for a similar program in Marin.
- Increasing community capacity: we are working with our community partners and other local organizations to support a temporary increase in their capacity to distribute food to individuals who are impacted by the shutdown. We are actively working through those plans with our partners, but this will include a temporary emergency increase in food pantry capacity along with opportunities for agencies to pick up pre-packed bags of food to deliver to their impacted community members.
- Increased Home-Delivered Groceries: we plan to temporarily expand our Home-Delivered Grocery program to support community members who are unable to go to a food pantry right now to get the food they need.
If You Need Help
Our temporary Shutdown Community Response programs will be available to community members who have lost benefits, government employees impacted by the shutdown, and/or neighbors impacted by increased federal immigration enforcement activity.
San Francisco households eligible for support through the pre-paid gift card program will receive a letter from the San Francisco Human Services Agency (SFHSA) that contains information on how to access their card. Letters will be sent in the first week of November. For more information about the program, visit: CalFresh Emergency Aid | sfhsa.org
For those impacted by this shutdown or federal government immigration enforcement who need food assistance, please visit our Find Food page regularly. We are still actively working through our community response plan and many details are still coming together.
For partners and other community organizations that are interested in joining us in this work to bring food to our community, please visit our Partner page regularly. We are still actively working through our community response plan and will have opportunities for you to engage shortly.
To Support the Food Bank
We can’t do this alone. We are already stretched thin with limited capacity and record demand due to a hunger crisis that predated the shutdown.
You can support us by donating at www.sfmfoodbank.org/donate.
To volunteer your time, visit www.sfmfoodbank.org/volunteer. Please note, November and December are our busiest volunteer months of the year. If you don’t see a shift please check back regularly as we are continuing to update volunteer opportunities as we develop our Shutdown Community Response plans.
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