Local food pantries brace for rising demands ahead of SNAP cutoff date

JACKSON, Tenn. — As the government shutdown continues, many food banks nationwide are preparing for an increase in demand.

The Regional Inter-faith Association (RIFA) is gearing up for an increase in demand as the government shutdown continues.

According to the Tennessee Department of Human Services, in West Tennessee, at least 9.6% of each county is receiving some form of SNAP benefits.

Here in Madison County, 13.8% of 100,409 residents are receiving SNAP benefits. That is over 13,000 Madison County residents that are set to lose their SNAP benefits.

With the benefits set to expire on November 1 and furloughed government employees not receiving paychecks, the organization has stocked up on essential food items for families in need.

“So we actually started to talk about this last week. Started to track or take a closer look at how many people were coming in for services, for assistance. We’re trying to essentially forecast how many people we might see in the coming days or weeks,” said Lisa Tillman, executive director at RIFA.

This is not just a problem endemic to West Tennessee. We spoke with Dr. Cheryl Jackson from Minnie’s Food Pantry, who serves in three states from 12 locations for some nationwide insight.

“A hungry kid can’t eat. A mother is now going to have to choose ‘Do I feed myself or do I feed my child?’ And that senior citizen that I’m talking to you about? Most people don’t even go and see that senior citizen. We deliver food once a month, but we don’t deliver enough food for the entire month,” said Jackson.

In a time like this, it’s important to band together and help your community. Always remember: take when you need, give when you can.

“We gotta wake up and we gotta help feed our brothers, and we gotta come to a finality and conclusion as quickly as possible so these people can eat,” said Jackson.

Feeding America has a food pantry database to aid in finding your nearest food pantry.

Here in Jackson, RIFA is primarily asking for volunteers, but will accept food and monetary donations.

For more news in the Jackson area, click here.