Food pantries brace for fallout from federal SNAP benefits cutoff
In Tippecanoe County, a decision to cut off grocery assistance would hit 5,723 low-income households, starting Nov. 1. Plus, why there’s a delay on promised downzoning tied to SK hynix vote. And more.
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FOOD PANTRIES BRACE FOR FALLOUT FROM FEDERAL SNAP BENEFITS CUTOFF
Over the summer, as Congress worked through details of a tax-and-spend measure called “one big beautiful bill,” leaders at Food Finders Food Bank were contemplating what added pressure it would bring to pantries and the nonprofit’s Fresh Market from proposed cuts to low-income food and health care programs.
“We were anticipating for fewer people to be approved for SNAP,” Kier Crites Muller, CEO of Food Finders, said Tuesday, a day after word started to spread that the federal government would stop funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Nov. 1 due to the federal government shutdown.
“We were not anticipating a month where no benefits were paid,” Crites Muller said. “It’s a huge difference. … I’m equating it to being similar to what happened during (the) COVID (pandemic), but without all those resources. We made it through then, thanks resources being provided out there to cover those gaps. This is a whole different thing.”
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it would shelve emergency contingency plans for a SNAP program that covers more than 42 million people nationwide, as the Trump administration ratcheted up pressure on Democrats to accept a Republican-backed spending plan that would reopen a federal government that has been closed for four week.
“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the USDA’s website read Monday. “At this time, there will be no benefits issued Nov. 1. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats.”
For more on the national story, this is via the States Newsrooms: “Upcoming federal food assistance pause intensifies shutdown fight.”
Also, this move came Tuesday, as reported by Reuters: “States sue over Trump administration suspending food benefits during shutdown.”
Indiana, which has 600,000 people who get SNAP benefits to help pay for groceries, was not among those states suing.
SNAP benefits total $2.4 million a month in Tippecanoe County, going to 12,219 people in 5,723 households that have incomes below 130% of poverty guidelines, according to numbers gathered by Food Finders. The average benefit for Tippecanoe County households covered by SNAP is $426 a month.
Across Food Finders’ 16-county region, those numbers are $8.8 million a month, going to 21,236 households with 45,987 people.
The SNAP program loads grocery money onto something akin to a debit card between the fifth and 23rd days of the month. But Crites Muller said Food Finders was seeing additional shoppers at its Fresh Market on Greenbush Street on Tuesday.
“For the people we see, SNAP doesn’t get them through an entire month,” Crites Muller. “So, we do see a lot of folks with SNAP who are already shopping with us and they’re piecing things together and making ends meet. I think everyone is trying to stay ahead of what’s coming at the end of the week.”
Crites Muller said Food Finders opened the week regrouping around ways to keep pantries at 112 agency partners stocked and coming up with approaches to raise funds to make that happen.
“We’re just starting to get a real handle on the situation,” Crites Muller said.
At the Fairfield Township trustee’s office, where residents can apply for emergency assistance, Trustee Monica Casanova said her staff will honor SNAP benefit recipients who live in the township and provide food vouchers to Pay Less Super Markets. Casanova said the township will streamline the application process, due to the emergency situation.
“As long as the client can prove they reside in Fairfield and have been receiving SNAP benefits, we will provide a food voucher for the same amount to purchase groceries at Pay Less,” Casanova said.
“We are positioned to draw from rainy day funds, and this a thunderstorm,” Casanova said. “We will not abandon our families, neighbors, seniors and those who need us more than ever.”
Lafayette Urban Ministry has a food pantry open Mondays and Thursdays at St. John’s Episcopal Church at Sixth and Ferry streets, along with other social safety net programs.
Wes Tillett, LUM executive director, said that even before the announcement of the looming SNAP cutoff, the pantry served 145 households Monday, breaking a record of 141 households set the Monday before. On top of that, Tillett said, LUM’s Financial Assistance Program has helped more people in 2025 than ever before and the organization’s 48-bed overnight emergency shelter has been full, with a wait list, since April 2024.
“So many people are working hard, but are already shouldering a heavy burden,” Tillett said. “So a cutoff of SNAP benefits will be a debilitating difficulty for everyone who relies on benefits. Can you imagine having your food source cut off for you and your family? I cannot imagine the stress, hunger and desperation of being in such a state of need.”
Crites Muller said Food Finders would concentrate efforts on three areas she said would have the biggest impact. That included food pantries, some of those in church basements and community centers – “they may be open once a month, but they’re lifelines for those communities.” She said that also included getting mobile pantries into Food Finders’ rural communities and making sure the grocery-style setting of Fresh Market – which gets between 15,000 and 17,000 visits a month – remains stocked.
She said Food Finders also was looking to reallocate money, if necessary, that had been set aside for other initiatives. She said sponsors of backpack programs at local schools have checked in to see about upping their help.
“This all just kind of hit yesterday and this morning, so we’re putting all those things in place,” Crites Muller said Tuesday. “Definitely, fundraising is going to be huge. But at the same time, I think people are really going to have to look out for one another in ways that maybe they haven’t done before. And when we talk about community, community can be messy when you’re showing up for people that you don’t know and for strangers. …
“If people can look at the most vulnerable in our community and are looking at ways to help them, can you offer a ride to the pantry? Can you pick up extra groceries? If you’re a church, could you host a meal?” Crites Muller said. “I really think it’s going to take everyone kind of stepping up and getting out of their comfort zone to really help people.”
What you can do
At Food Finders Food Bank: Food Finders already was set to launch its 15th annual Drive Away Hunger fall fundraising campaign Nov. 1. The goal through Dec. 5 was to raise enough to cover 800,000 meals. For details about donating or volunteering: www.food-finders.org/dah or call 765-471-0062.
At Lafayette Urban Ministry: Wes Tillett said, “We are encouraging those who want to help to give what they can — items, time, money or prayers — to support their neighbors in need. This is a time for action, not mere words. ‘Faith without works is dead’ (James 2:17). This is a time for compassion, not despair.”
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DOWNZONING REQUEST TIED TO SK HYNIX REZONING DELAYED: A scheduled West Lafayette City Council vote on a downzoning request for 125 acres in the Purdue Research Park – a promise from Purdue Research Foundation that played a role in the controversial rezoning of neighboring property in West Lafayette for a $3.87 billion SK hynix advanced chip packaging facility – will be delayed for a month, city officials confirmed.
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