Broome county has officially lifted its state of emergency, which was declared in response to the lapse in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits because of the government shutdown.
County officials said more than 16,000 local families were impacted by the lapse before New York State released full benefits last week. Despite the restoration of SNAP benefits, they say there is still a major need for additional aid.
The county is currently partnering with the Food Bank of the Southern Tier and the sheriff’s office to distribute 2,000 food boxes to veterans and families in rural areas.
Veterans must show their IDs to pick up food boxes at the Timothy M. Grippen Veterans Resource Center in Binghamton, as well as at several American Legion posts. People in rural parts of the county can pick up boxes at senior centers and other distribution sites. A full list of distribution sites is available here.
Broome County Executive Jason Garnar said even though benefits have been released, food insecurity is still straining local food pantries.
“Just because the SNAP benefits are turned on doesn't mean that people immediately have food,” Garnar said. “So this is going to kind of help us bridge this gap that we had for three weeks over the next month or two.”
The effort is being paid for with $15,000 from the county’s veterans fund and $15,000 from the Broome County Sheriff’s Office trust account. When the state of emergency was declared, the sheriff’s office reallocated $200,000 from the account to fund food distribution efforts.
During the state of emergency, the county lifted its limits on the number of bags commuters could take on public buses. The county also offered over 2,000 free bus rides to SNAP recipients traveling to and from food pantries.
“That service ensured that thousands of residents without transportation could still reach the resources they needed,” Garnar said. “And this is one of the reasons why we're partnering with the sheriff's office on these boxes. Today, these boxes are getting out to rural areas where there really is no public transportation.”
Now that the state of emergency is lifted, the county is no longer offering free bus rides or waiving the bag limit. Garnar said the county is open to waiving the bag limit again, if necessary. He said they would get feedback from bus drivers and riders to see how the measure worked.
Local food banks and pantries said they saw a spike in need during the SNAP lapse, exacerbating already-record high levels of food insecurity in the area.
Sarah DeFrank, the director of policy, programs, and partnerships at the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, said in October, even before the government shutdown began, the food pantry system saw its highest demand ever.
“These boxes are designed to make sure that individuals have a little bit of a reprieve, as they lost their SNAP benefits, as the shutdown was impacting them and their households, as well as to act as a reprieve for some of our pantry partners who are bearing that burden during that time,” DeFrank said.
