Key Points: 

• Food stamps unavailable in Arizona from Nov. 1, impacting 900,000 people

• Federal government shutdown halts funding for SNAP benefits nationwide

• Gov. Katie Hobbs requests local retailers and grocers to donate food 

With nearly 900,000 Arizonans facing the loss of food stamps as of Nov. 1, state officials have been scrambling to prepare already-strained food pantries for the upcoming holiday surge. 

The increase in demand follows the announcement that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more colloquially known as food stamps or SNAP, will not be able to provide continued assistance to its 42 million users nationally amid the federal government shutdown. 

“It’s especially cruel to do this in November, the month of Thanksgiving, of course, when our forefathers came together to celebrate the bounty of the harvest being shared among all Americans,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a press conference on Oct. 28 . “That is the opposite of what the president is doing.”

Chris Firmage, a spokesperson for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, said he expects demand on the food bank to increase as the SNAP cut-off comes at a time of rising food insecurity and unpaid federal employees.

“The holidays are always the busiest time of year, so we’re concerned with expected influx,” Firmage said. 

Danielle McMahon, the chief operations officer of St. Vincent de Paul, said the organization is preparing for an increase in people in November as the holiday season approaches. 

“It’s going to be really stressful and difficult for families and for individuals,” McMahon said. “The holidays are a time where you’re wanting to celebrate, wanting to feed your family, wanting to make it special, and people are going to struggle to do that.”

McMahon said they were relying on the community to mobilize through volunteering and donations to mitigate the pressure that will come with the loss of benefits. McMahon said with the media attention SNAP has already gotten, people are starting to step up. 

“We definitely need the community to activate, to help one another,” McMahon said. “If people are in a situation where they can give back, lend their time, lend their resources, we need them now more than ever.”

Tom McKinney, the CEO of Interfaith Community Services, said that the food pantry is already feeling the effects of the loss of benefits over the past week. In addition to a larger number of people, McKinney said many of those coming to the pantry are brand new or haven’t been there in over a year. 

“We’ve got cars backed up to the street,” McKinney said. 

McKinney said conversations need to happen among the government to get SNAP refunded, as its inactivity has just worsened what he already considered a “food crisis.”

On Oct. 28, Mayes announced she — along with 21 other attorneys general and three governors — was suing the federal government for allegedly illegally suspending SNAP benefits. 

“Despite USDA’s claim of insufficient funds, the agency has access to billions of dollars in SNAP-specific contingency funds appropriated by Congress for this very purpose,” a press release from Mayes’ office said. “Furthermore, USDA has funded other programs with emergency funds during this shutdown, but has refused to fund SNAP, leaving millions of Americans without the assistance they need to buy food.”

The United States Department of Agriculture has about $5 billion in contingency funds for SNAP benefits but has not deemed the shutdown worthy of their use. 

Mayes also called on the Arizona state government to use the state’s $1.6 billion rainy day fund to pay for the benefits until the government is no longer shut down. 

“If this is not a rainy day, I am not really sure what is,” Mayes said. 

Mayes said she was disappointed in how Arizona had been handling the problem and suggested the state call in the National Guard to assist food pantries in handing out food. 

McKinney said staffing is not a problem for the food banks, as they have many volunteers. What they really need is monetary donations, McKinney said. 

On Oct. 29, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced that the state was donating $1.5 million to help fund SNAP benefits for November. 

The announcement came after Hobbs said Arizona did not have sufficient financial resources to truly assist people during the benefits pause. 

“The state of Arizona does not have the money to backfill the disastrous decisions being made by Washington Republicans,” Hobbs said. “But I am taking every action possible to mitigate the damage done to everyday people in our state.”

In the press release, Hobbs said Arizona usually receives $150 million in federal food stamp funding, and she recognized how much her donation falls short by comparison. In the press release, she asked Arizona retailers and grocers to also donate food to help the community. 

“As someone who at times has relied on food stamps to get by, it is devastating to imagine what Arizona families are going through as they try to put food on the table for their families,” Hobbs said in the press release. “President Trump must act today to ensure veterans, seniors and vulnerable children in Arizona don’t go hungry this November.”