Tri-County
SNAP benefits—federal assistance to low-income individuals for food purchases—will be cut in half for many tri-county residents and delayed for most, which has prompted area food pantries to prepare to assist additional clients.
Vicki Gibson, executive director of the Jeff Davis Food Pantry, said the cuts, along with many federal employees not getting paid due to the government shutdown, are leading the county’s residents to seek pantry help. “They’re calling to see if they can become food pantry clients,” she said. “We’ve already had several federal employees who have been signed up for assistance. So our enrollment numbers are definitely going up.”
On Monday, the Trump administration announced it would follow federal court rulings ordering that the SNAP program, which serves 42 million people nationwide, be funded with $4.6 billion from a federal emergency account reserved for that purpose. However, that payment will only cover a portion of the $9 billion needed, resulting in staggered and delayed payments that are, on average, about 50% of what participants usually get in monthly payments. Some 3.5 million Texans get SNAP benefits. With a stalemate in Congress over the shutdown, it’s uncertain what will happen with December benefits.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s August figures show 1,872 tri-county residents eligible for benefits, with the following breakdown for those eligible and average payments: Presidio County 1,190 ($312); Brewster County 586 ($292); and Jeff Davis County 96 ($282).
Area food pantry directors said it’s still too early to gauge the impacts of the cuts, but they said they are readying for many more applications for assistance. The fact that nearly 1 in 5 Presidio County residents are eligible for assistance is not lost on Genevieve Bassham, who directs the Marfa Food Pantry, Saluvida, a nonprofit. “SNAP is very much needed here, and it’s sad to see what’s happening,” she said, adding that the “unknown” of what will happen next with SNAP creates extreme anxiety for working families.
Marfa’s pantry, like all area pantries, uses a variety of sources to stock their food—local donations of non-perishables, and donations that support food purchases, particularly of perishable items, from the West Texas Food Bank in Odessa. It serves about 435 area residents with distributions once a month.
Chris Patriarca, a Food Pantry of Alpine nonprofit board member, said the pantry is still assessing potential impacts and is now asking clients about SNAP. “I think we had approximately 100 clients come through [last week], and we surveyed them to see how many were getting SNAP benefits, and approximately 30% were enrolled in SNAP,” he said. “But having said that, we didn’t have an unusual turnout.”
Presidio Mayor John Ferguson said the city usually gets a mobile distribution every month from the West Texas Food Bank, and it’s still uncertain if the demand is going to spike, but he is ready to do what’s needed to take care of residents. “I want to personally get out in front of it as a mayor and make sure that the people know we’re monitoring this,” he said. “As the city government here, we’re not just gonna stand by and just watch things happen. We’re going to be ready in case the situation calls for [organizing] assistance.”
“We’ve noticed demand is up some,” said Mike Drinkard, who coordinates food distribution from the Family Crisis Center of the Big Bend in Terlingua—likely, he said, from the government shutdown. “I think the SNAP thing would just now be hitting, so we went ahead and posted [on Facebook] saying if people don’t get the assistance they need, they can come in, and we can do an extra distribution for them.”
All the pantry operators said donations of non-perishables are always appreciated but that cash donations also are crucial because they have the power to stretch dollars exponentially when buying discounted food. “Cash donations are good because I can buy four boxes of cereal for what somebody can buy retail for one,” Gibson said. “The other thing that we really need is volunteers to help us with our twice-a-month distribution here in Fort Davis.” The other pantry operators echoed the need for volunteers.
For more information on distributions or to donate or volunteer, visit:
Marfa: marfafoodpantry.com
Jeff Davis County: www.foodpantry-jdc.org
Alpine: foodpantryofalpine.org
Terlingua: fccbb.org
Presidio, Marathon and Valentine: Call the West Texas Food Bank at 432-580-6333 or visit wtxfoodbank.org.
Correction: The original version of this story noted the number of individual estimated to be served by the Marfa Food Pantry at 180. That figure was for families, which represent about 435 individuals.