• Michigan food banks, low-cost grocers bracing for spike in demand, calling pending SNAP pause a ‘crisis’
• 1.4 million Michigan residents poised to temporarily lose food assistance benefits due to ongoing federal government shutdown 
• How to help: Donate or volunteer with local food banks, check in on neighbors, consider joining a mutual aid group

---

Elmwood Blessing Box in Westland had already seen an uptick in people using its community food pantry since the ongoing federal government shutdown began, with close to 100 families visiting the site every day this month to get produce, dried pasta and canned goods.

Now, with federal food benefits poised to end this weekend, founder Elizabeth Freeman is preparing a “pivot” to meet the surge in demand: While the charity has previously allowed members to shop around for their goods, the nonprofit may instead need to provide prepackaged food boxes to ration its supply.

“I think the fear of possibly losing their food stamps or losing other resources is causing people to prepare,” Freeman told Bridge Michigan, noting that the upcoming holiday season could put additional strain on families. “People don’t really know what to expect.”

Food banks, pantries and other charity organizations across Michigan say they’re already seeing more traffic and are bracing for a likely influx of additional need come Nov. 1, when roughly 1.4 million Michigan residents will stop getting scheduled SNAP benefits. 

Industry leaders and advocates told Bridge that the state’s charitable food network isn’t designed to handle that kind of capacity, noting many people who take advantage of their resources also receive federal assistance. 

“Our food bank charitable network will serve, but we cannot replace SNAP — it’s physically impossible,” said Dawn Opel, chief innovation officer and general counsel for the Food Bank Council of Michigan. “We can supplement, but we can’t substitute.”

Despite the obstacles, organizations around the state are tapping into reserves, leveraging what resources they have and in some cases tapping into creative solutions to help keep Michigan residents fed. 

Even social service organizations that do not currently provide food assistance say the forthcoming funding gap has them considering new options. 

“We’re having those preliminary discussions about how we as a community action agency can assist people, specifically our clients that rely on that so much,” said Frances Ommani, strategy and development director at the Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency, which has programs focused on early childhood and homelessness prevention.

‘We need everyone right now, today’

AJ Fossel, executive director of the Community Food Club, a Grand Rapids nonprofit grocery store serving low-income individuals and families, said people should be calling the looming pause in SNAP benefits what it is: “a crisis.”  

Fossel said her organization serves about 9,000 people a month in Kent County and already had a waitlist of more than 1,100 households prior to the potential SNAP lapse. 

The Community Food Club is preparing to dip into its reserves to help support as many people as possible, but the best case scenario would be for the federal government to sustain SNAP benefits, Fossel said. In lieu of that, she said charitable food organizations around the state need support from the public.

“We need everyone right now, today,” she said. “We need volunteer support to help handle the incoming influx of folks, and we also need donations.” 

Julie Cassidy, senior policy analyst with the Michigan League for Public Policy, said she would “definitely encourage anyone who has the means right now to donate to their local food bank, to do so.” 

“As much as there’s going to be a strain…they are committed to doing everything in their power to make sure that people have the food that they need,” she said. 

Cassidy, Fossel and other advocates said cash donations are typically preferred, as charitable food organizations can stretch dollars further by buying wholesale or getting extra food donations from suppliers. 

“People on SNAP are often working, incredible people that are facing just really incredible challenges,” Fossel said. “They’re your neighbors. We want to make sure we can support them however we can.” 

Offsetting challenges

In an effort to offset some of the challenges with delayed SNAP payments, the Fair Food Network is offering additional benefits for residents through the Double Up Food Bucks Program, which matches SNAP purchases of fruits and vegetables and is supported by the state of Michigan and private donors. 

Through Dec. 31, the Double Up program has lifted expiration dates and daily limits on earnings, expanded eligibility to frozen fruits and vegetables and is offering a limited-time $40 voucher for program participants.

Related:

• ‘It’s terrifying’: 1.4M Michiganders brace for loss of SNAP food assistance
• Food assistance to ‘pause’ for 1.4M in Michigan due to federal shutdown
• Food assistance program lifts cap as SNAP pauses in November

That “will go a long way in ensuring access to healthy food can continue while we push our federal partners to reach a deal that avoids more harm to Michigan families,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement.

Some private organizations are also offering additional services in Michigan to bridge the gaps. Food delivery service DoorDash recently committed to waiving delivery and service fees for orders through participating food banks and up to 300,000 individual grocery orders for SNAP recipients.

Opel, of the Food Bank Council of Michigan, said that service can help free up resources for cash-strapped food banks and offer another pathway for connecting some of the state’s most vulnerable residents with food.

“Some of these niche programs, they can’t serve at scale, but they can solve a problem that other interventions can’t,” she said. “If you don’t have a car, or you can’t lift a 40-pound box, or you don’t have a driver or a caregiver that can go, you know, that’s a real emergency.” 

Getting creative

Jennifer McLellan, a single mother of three young children living in Redford, was previously enrolled in both SNAP and WIC, but said the programs are “never a guarantee” for her family — she has yet to receive her usual monthly payment this year of $796 as her case remains in pending status.

A former senior care manager for a specialty pharmacy, McLellan, 41, left the workforce last year to care for her terminally ill father. Now unemployed, she says she’s “robbing Peter to pay Paul” to cover expenses, staying “honest” and “transparent” with creditors as she negotiates past-due bills.

“I’ve never been this financially strapped in my entire life as an adult,” McLellan said.

To keep her pantry stocked, McLellan keeps tabs on a network of food banks and church groups in Metro Detroit, maintaining their schedules in a series of spreadsheets.

Without the certainty of government assistance, McLellan says she and members of her church have relied on learning new skills, like baking sourdough bread. As part of a bigger faith-based community, they take turns sharing an “extra plate at our table” when someone doesn’t have enough to eat for themselves.

“We’re sharing our surplus,” she said.

Freeman, founder of Elmwood Blessing Box, said it was her own experience as a teen mother using food pantries to supplement the meals she got through government assistance that led her to start a food pantry from her home in Garden City.

Now, the Elmwood Blessing Box is a brick-and-mortar location, allowing seniors, children and anyone else in need to access food seven days a week. 

Despite the current uncertainty, Freeman said her goal of getting hungry people fed remains the same. 

“We have started connecting with the other programs that we work with to try to figure out how we can all supplement each other,” Freeman said.

Republish This Story

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under our Republication Guidelines. Questions? Email republishing@bridgemi.com