MILTON, Fla. — The government will continue for a couple more days at least as the Senate adjourned Thursday night. They will not meet again until Monday.
Food stamps for millions of Americans were set to go away Saturday. But two federal judges have ordered the Trump Administration to use emergency money for the “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” to provide at least partial food stamp benefits.
It’s not immediately clear whether the rulings mean that benefits will be paid on Saturday.
Some people are using Halloween to help people who need food. SNAP benefits expiring on Saturday will leave 43 million Americans without access to groceries, 3 million of those are Floridians.
One Santa Rosa County resident is doing what she can to help others impacted in her community.
This week, Milton resident Melissa Filingim started a social media campaign encouraging others to pass out non-perishable items instead of candy this Halloween. Friday night she did just that.
“With everything going on, I think we should just be mindful. And we don’t know who it could help,” said Filingim. “And someone we love could be on food stamps or struggling and we might not even know. Someone, a child that, a parent whose child goes to school with another child, they could be struggling or they could be on SNAP and they might not even know. So I just feel like if I can help in any way, you know, I’m going to.”
Based on 2023 data, 14.7% of households in Escambia County receive SNAP benefits. In Santa Rosa County that’s 9.3% and 7.4% in Okaloosa County.
In Alabama, about 6.8% of households have EBT cards in Baldwin County. But more than 11% of households qualify.
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Food pantries in the Gulf Coast area are preparing for benefits to end. Feeding the Gulf Coast has organized several pop-up giveaways as they categorize this shutdown as a “crisis.”
