With federal food assistance set to lapse for 130,000 San Antonio households, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and a group of businesses and foundations announced a $1.6 million SNAP bridge fund to help families in need during a Friday press conference outside City Hall.<\/p>\n
The federal government shutdown has lasted a month as Democrats and Republicans remain divided about next year\u2019s budget. That means millions of Americans will not see benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, arrive Nov. 1.<\/p>\n
A group of local businesses and nonprofits have put their heads and wallets together to distribute $150 H-E-B gift cards to families that need food, Jones announced Friday.<\/p>\n
The donations are being received and managed by the San Antonio Area Foundation, which will purchase the gift cards from H-E-B. The gift cards will then be distributed by the city\u2019s Metropolitan Health District and Human Services departments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want our community to know help is coming,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThanks to the city and over a dozen companies, I\u2019m proud to announce that just in the last two, three days, we have raised over $1.6 million to help build a bridge for SNAP recipients.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones said the aid would be focused on seniors and vulnerable residents, and the city will distribute the gift cards to people who currently utilize certain city programs. <\/strong>More <\/strong>details about the new program will be shared next week.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city is finalizing a distribution plan that will use existing channels to make sure assistance reaches residents quickly and fairly,\u201d Jones said. \u201cMore details about distribution will be announced next week, but I\u2019m here to let folks know that you are not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n The $1.6 million will help about 11,000 families, Jones said, and emphasized that the program was only a bridge, not a solution. She said San Antonio families receive $50 million in SNAP benefits each month.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a bridge. It\u2019s not the solution. The solution is the federal government being up and running again,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n Several of San Antonio\u2019s largest businesses contributed. USAA donated $250,000. Frost Bank, H-E-B, Joeris General Contractors, Valero and the San Antonio Spurs donated $100,000 each, as did Jones\u2019 office.<\/p>\n Multiple foundations also kicked in. The San Antonio Area Foundation led the way with $150,000 and the Kym Rapier and Gordon Hartman Family foundations also contributed $100,000.<\/p>\n Those donations, in some cases, came in spite of political divisions. Jones has publicly clashed with Spurs leadership on using city dollars for a downtown arena, but they showed a united front Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are all family, and in these moments the most, we need to make sure that all of us come to the aid of our community,\u201d said Patricia Mejia, the Spurs\u2019 chief impact and inclusion officer.<\/p>\n Jones said the funding had come together quickly after a series of calls to local businesses and foundations. She and Nadege Souvenir, the CEO of the San Antonio Area Foundation, encouraged more businesses, foundations and community members to contribute going forward.<\/p>\n