Valley food banks prepare for influx if SNAP benefits not extended

By Jeff Wendt
Mail

With the government shutdown approaching its fourth week, and the announcement last week that food stamp benefits would not be available on Nov. 1, Valley food banks, including those in Queen Creek, are getting prepared for the influx of Arizonans who will need assistance.

"We have a lot of families that are very, very concerned and they have been calling me since last Wednesday," said Theresa G. Palma, director ot the Mary Gloria Foundation. "They are actually preparing. Families are now attending food pantrie,s looking for food pantries, because they want to stockpile in case it really does happen."

The Mary Gloria Foundation is dedicated to helping families in need in the Queen Creek/San Tan Valley area and beyond get basic items for everyday life.

"It's hitting really hard for some families already who live paycheck to paycheck. I'm very concerned too because as a food pantry, we're providing X amount oto families, but now that we have more families who normally wouldn't utilize a food pantry," Palma said.

Palma added that at the foundation's last food pantry in September 40 new families showed up.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced earlier this week the state does not have enough reserve funds to help the almost 900,000 Arizonans who are on food stamp benefits.

Arizona is also part of a multi-state lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use contingency funds it has to continue distributing money that is part of he Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

Valley food banks already help those financially unable to purchase food, and hopefully be able to step in and help those with food stamp benefits.

According to Jerry Brown, public relations director for the St. Mary’s Food Bank, they are ready to lend a hand.

“In the short term we will be OK,” Brown said. “But the longer it goes, the more we will need to buy product.”

Same goes for St. Vincent de Paul. Chief Operating Officer Danielle McMahon said they are prepared as well.

“We want them to know that we are here for them,” McMahon said.

Amy Tekulve, Valley View Community Food Bank marketing director, said they are holding their own so far to meet demand.

“We’re trying to do what we can to meet the demand,” Tekulve said. “This has been unprecedented for us.”

“People are panicked and scared,” Tekulve added. “We have been inundated with calls and emails with people being scared. We have increased our hours and we have seen lines all day long and not seeing any lulls throughout the day.”

Brown anticipates the need for food will reach levels they haven’t seen since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

“We’re going to see some large numbers,” Brown said. “You have to go back to the pandemic to see when something similar happened.”

Both McMahon and Brown say they will look to the community for additional help.

“We need the community to help to make sure we can help,” McMahon said. “Whether that is making a donation, whether that is providing goods or whether they can donate their time to help out at one of our kitchens. We’re just asking the community to step forward.”

“Canned food is always great, but for us cash is king,” Brown added. “We can provide five meals for people for every dollar we spend.”

Valley View is also giving a call to the community for help.

“Right now the job is to reach out to the community for help,” Tekulve said. “We currently have 40 locations to collect food. We’re going to our business partners, our private donors, even reaching out to schools who we partner with for food drives to get the word out.”

The concern is how long the government shutdown will impact funding, and whether it will extend to the Thanksgiving holiday.

“Obviously the holidays are more stressful,” McMahon said. “You worry about how and where the next meal is coming from, and the dollar stretches that much more. We want them to know that we are here for them.”

Brown also knows the holiday will be stressful. St. Mary’s annual turkey drive begins this week, with the hope of securing at least 13,000 turkeys to add to the 10,000 they purchased over summer.

St. Mary’s also is dipping into canned foods recently donated at the Arizona State Fair, which ended Sunday.
“We’re already using what we got donated at the state fair into our emergency boxes,” Brown said. “We have food on hand, but we’re starting to stretch it further and further.”

Valley View hasn’t had to make adjustments to its plans so far.

“We don’t prepack our boxes,” Tekulve said. “So far we have not had to make much of an adjustment in what we do. We prepare boxes when the people come in, we take their allergy and dietary needs into account when we pack our boxes for them.”

For McMahon and St. Vincent de Paul, they are trying to determine what they have to offer to SNAP recipients.

“It’s hard to figure out what our supply is,” McMahon said. “People are not used to navigating outside of SNAP.”

St. Mary’s already is seeing lines of more than 30 minutes at their Surprise and Phoenix locations.

“We suggest people use the website (https://www.stmarysfoodbank.org/) to find the location nearest them,” Brown said. “We know more people are coming. We suggest the smaller locations may be an easier solution.”

“Anyone who is in need should call 211 to get connected to your local neighborhood pantry,” McMahon said. “But we also want people to know we are here to help. There’s hope.”

For Valley View, they plan to help people however they can.

“We have never turned anyone away, and we hope that we will never have to do that,” Tekulve said.

Janet Perez contibuted to this story.

Jeff Wendt
Reporter | Phoenix/Cave Creek

jwendt@iniusa.org

Meet Jeff
Jeff Wendt started at Independent Newsmedia in January 2023, after 25 years working for Gannett and The Arizona Republic. Started as a high school sports scoretaker, worked up to reporting high school sports and then became an associate high school sports editor in 2002. Also worked in the Design Studio as a copy editor.

Community: Jeff serves on the Board of Elders at his local church.

Education: Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication

Random fact: Attended Game 2 of the 2001 World Series.

Hobbies: Playing video games (yes still the kid in me), watching reality TV, playing poker.