With SNAP in limbo, front yard food pantries share recipe for hope
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As the federal food assistance cutoff strains food banks, neighbors are feeding neighbors with a network of front yard aid.
The big picture: The abrupt halt to full federal benefits and its subsequent chaos has forced families to choose between paying bills and putting food on the table. But with aid in limbo, community goodwill is providing a homemade lifeline.
Case in point: Elizabeth Hill of Norristown, Pa., one of tens of millions of Americans on SNAP, told Axios she lives paycheck to paycheck — "to have a roll of paper towels … is a luxury item."
- But with federal aid stalled, she thought about her neighbors who couldn't make it to food pantries due to work or transportation limitations. So, she started her own with plastic bins and a cooler.
- Her act of kindness sparked a chain reaction. Neighbors now help restock the bins, aiding her in return.
- "Never did I ever think that I would have to live through a time in the United States where we were worried about food," she said.
State of play: A legal battle is playing out over the benefits, with the Supreme Court granting a pause after some states had begun distributing benefits due to several court orders.
- But on Sunday, an appeals court rejected the Trump administration's effort to block full SNAP benefits. The administration signaled Monday it would again fight the order to pay out full benefits.
- Some states had moved around millions to support residents during the lapse, but as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said last month, "No state, including our own," could completely "backfill the money."
What they're saying: Hill told Axios that her pantry project has shown her that "no matter how dark things seem, there is still light out there."
- "It's our job as citizens of this country to bring that light to fruition and bury the darkness. ... We can just be the sun."
AJ Owen and his sons are trying to do just that with their front yard pantry in Pittsburgh.
- He told his boys, "Even if we help one person, then it was worth it." One person came. Then another, and another.
- Owen knows there's a stigma around receiving federal assistance. But he wants people to know that "you coming here and getting food from our little food pantry is no different than you coming over to have dinner."
- That "little" pantry has gone mega-viral on TikTok, especially after Owen shared an emotional video of him finding a surprise donation — a stack of hundred-dollar bills — left anonymously in his mailbox.
His comments are flooded with pictures of front yard and street corner helpers' own homemade pantries. He says seeing that "good multiplying across the country — for once ... feels like this is America."
- Kelly Perez, equipped with a cheap cabinet and Tupperware containers, started a pantry in her neighborhood near Kansas City. With help from a Facebook friend, she stocked one section with hygiene products, baby formula, diapers and more.
- The next day, she estimated, 90% of those goods had been taken. She told Axios, "I can rest easy at night, knowing that a baby in my community is being fed."
The bottom line: Owen says that "as long as there's food, as long as people are coming to take it ... I'll keep feeding them."
Go deeper: Why November SNAP benefits may not be available for several weeks or months
