{"id":363291,"date":"2025-11-07T23:56:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T23:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/363291\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T23:56:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T23:56:15","slug":"tarrant-food-bank-doubles-food-distribution-because-of-snap-pause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/363291\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarrant food bank doubles food distribution because of SNAP pause"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tarrant Area Food Bank\u2019s distribution center, which is nearly 40% larger than a football field, has 20-foot-high shelves that are nearly always stocked with food.<\/p>\n

On a normal day, the life cycle of food on-site \u2014 from being stocked on the shelves to distributed to one of the food bank\u2019s 500 partners \u2014 is at most 48 hours, said Jared Williams, vice president of government and external relations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given the nation\u2019s longest government shutdown in history and the food stamps program losing funding for the first time ever, that time has shrunk to 24 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that this is a race to do, but right now, it is a race to do to meet the needs of the people out there,\u201d said Mike McDougan, one of the volunteers working on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

While on-site, food is often prepared for partner organizations, whether that\u2019s simply stacking the shelves or placing 40 pounds of cans in boxes, as volunteers were doing earlier this week. Demand for help has increased, putting the nonprofit on track to spend most of its $5 million set aside for food purchases this fiscal year by January, officials said.<\/p>\n

Normally, Tarrant Area Food Bank distributes 1.25 million meals each week to its 13-county service network, said Stephen Raeside, the nonprofit\u2019s chief development and external affairs officer.<\/p>\n

\"(MariaShelves are emptier than usual at the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth on Nov. 3, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n

The food bank has begun dispensing double that amount with plans to continue at that pace for the next three months, Williams said.<\/p>\n

That means the food bank must increase operating costs, volunteering efforts and the acquisition of food, officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith federal workers missing paychecks and SNAP participants not receiving their benefits, that adds an increased amount of demand on our partners,\u201d Williams said. \u201cSo then they order more, and our inventory is pushed out faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like most food banks in the United States, Tarrant Area Food Bank has seen a significant increase in demand for services over the last five weeks since the shutdown began in October. That need was exacerbated after the federal SNAP program, which provides grocery purchasing benefits to 42 million people nationwide, lost funding on Nov. 1.<\/p>\n

\"(MariaFresh produce is available at the Tarrant Area Food Bank on Nov. 3, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n

Lingering effects<\/p>\n

Not all the food distributed by the food bank is purchased. In fact, 95% of food passing through the nonprofit in fiscal year 2024 came from donations and government programs.<\/p>\n

But given the lack of surplus available from the food industry in recent years, food banks nationwide have had to buy more of the food they give away.<\/p>\n

Tarrant Area Food Bank CEO Julie Butner said the nonprofit set aside $5 million to purchase food for its 2026 fiscal year, which started in October.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the food bank doubling distribution operations in reaction to SNAP cuts, Butner said most of the funds will be used by January.<\/p>\n

Although this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean the food bank will run out of food by the end of the fiscal year in September, choices will be limited by that point, Butner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re kind of hedging a bet,\u201d Butner said. \u201cWe can\u2019t have starving people in our community, so we\u2019re going to go ahead and spend the money, hoping that the federal government will reopen and that that 90-day period will get the wheels in motion again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t have starving people in our community.\u201d <\/p>\n

Julie Butner, CEO of Tarrant Area Food Bank.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The risk is calculated to meet an immediate need, officials said. At one of Tarrant Area Food Bank\u2019s recent distribution events in Denton, for example, the nonprofit served over 1,000 families, well over the regular amount of 500, Raeside said.<\/p>\n

The long-term needs of the community, however, can\u2019t be serviced by the food bank alone. Butner previously told<\/a> the Fort Worth Report that no foundation, millionaire or other government entity \u201ccan offset what the federal government does with our taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"(MariaThe Tarrant Area Food Bank serves 13 counties in North Texas on Nov. 3, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n

Doubling operations is a temporary solution until SNAP is brought back, officials from the nonprofit said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(It\u2019s an) absolute necessity that we try to bridge that gap as much as possible by purchasing food,\u201d Raeside said.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump announced earlier this week<\/a> that SNAP funds would be partially reinstated, but that it would take weeks \u2014 or maybe even months \u2014 for the program to start running again.<\/p>\n

Nov. 6, a federal judge ordered the reinstating<\/a> of SNAP funds by Nov. 7. Federal government officials immediately appealed the ruling.<\/p>\n

Increased volunteering efforts<\/p>\n

Keeping up with the increased pace means more volunteers are needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a given week, Tarrant Area Food Bank has three volunteer shifts from Tuesday to Friday and two on Saturday, with occasional shifts on Monday. Each team has 50-70 volunteers with multiple teams often working the same shift.<\/p>\n

Since the shutdown, more volunteers have signed up, and several shifts are full through November, Williams said.<\/p>\n

Some volunteers sort cans, checking for quality, dents and expiration dates, while others work in the kitchen creating and packaging soup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do some other volunteer work too in the community, but this is a great place to volunteer because there\u2019s something different every time,\u201d said Lee Ann McDougan, who spends time at the distribution center with her husband, Mike.<\/p>\n

The southwest Fort Worth couple are retired, and said the work keeps them active while allowing them to make a difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were especially interested in the food bank because we know people who have struggled with food insecurity,\u201d Lee Ann said.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit employs 125 people, but volunteers are crucial to Tarrant Area Food Bank\u2019s entire operation, Williams said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Volunteers contributed about 3,750 days of work in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"(MariaMaura Triplett and other volunteers fill containers with homemade soup at the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth on Nov. 5, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n

Preparing for an unknown<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s shutdown is not the first time food banks have faced an unknown.<\/p>\n

Raeside said the current situation is akin to the pandemic, when food banks had to adapt to difficult situations such as not having volunteers overnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving been through COVID and scaling our operations to meet that need, this very much feels like a similar situation,\u201d Raeside said.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s noticeably different from the pandemic was the government support, which was incredibly high in 2020. This year, the federal government has pulled back much of its support, even before the shutdown with the introduction of federal funding cuts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If SNAP is not funded in some capacity by Dec. 1, about $2 million in purchasing power will be lost every day in the food bank\u2019s 13-county service area, Butner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty unique. I don\u2019t think our country has faced this before,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tarrant Area Food Bank can temporarily tape over the cracks but not for long. The increased distribution and spending by the food bank will no longer be enough if funding is not allocated to SNAP soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we have a long runway,\u201d Butner said, referencing her fear of what could happen if the full funding is not reinstated soon. \u201cIt\u2019s a short period of time to get this thing back in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n

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