PORTLAND, Maine (WGME) — As the government shutdown drags on, there will be impacts to SNAP benefits here in Maine.
The USDA put the country on notice this week that they will run out of money for benefits by November, which is now putting food pantries in a difficult situation.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services says 12% of Mainers rely on SNAP, with a large majority of those households including a working adult.
But the community says they can only do so much to help those in need.
Terrence Miller is the advocacy director for Preble Street, a statewide nonprofit that provides services to those in need, including a food pantry, which could now need to cater to even more people with the potential loss of SNAP benefits.
“We’re not gonna get out of this without just doing charity alone,” Miller said. “No one can be prepared for this.”
Miller says rising costs at grocery stores not only makes it harder for families trying to survive but also for food pantries to stock up.
“We cannot be charitable enough to feed all those individuals and families and children,” Miller went on.
But that’s where people like Rebecca Coffin, who has owned Hailey’s Kitchen in Windham for two years, come in.
“It triggered something in me, and I thought, ‘oh man, so many people at Thanksgiving,'” Coffin said.
Coffin has started something she calls a “Pay It Forward Board.” The idea was triggered after hearing the news about SNAP Tuesday. The idea: a customer can come in, buy an item, and purchase another one for someone else.
“I feel like, if I don’t do something, and I have a platform to be able to do something, then I’ve missed an opportunity to help thousands of people. And that’s, I can’t sleep with that,” Coffin said.
When we walked into Hailey’s Kitchen Wednesday morning, Coffin already had made a pot of pasta and meatballs for anyone that needed a meal free of charge.
