NC AG visits Wilmington food bank amid lawsuit against Dept. of Agriculture
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY-TV) – Area food banks are rushing as a stop to SNAP benefits looms with the lingering government shutdown. Jeff Jackson, North Carolina attorney general visited Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard on Thursday after joining a lawsuit against the Department of Agriculture to release emergency funds.
Jackson claims the federal government has a $6 billion emergency fund for situations like this but has decided to withhold those funds despite using them for the last shutdown in 2019.
“We believe that they have the money to keep SNAP going they have a $6 billion emergency fund that congress gave them for this purpose,” Jackson said. “If SNAP goes dark I know that there’s going to be a scramble by the state, by nonprofits, but food pantries and by churches but what I need people to understand what I need the court to understand there will be no way to fill the gap.”
If those funds run dry, more than 280,000 households across five counties in southeastern North Carolina area will be affected. The majority of those households are in New Hanover County. Columbus County could be hit the hardest as 22.3% of its household rely on SNAP.
Courtesy: WWAY News/Data: AP
Rozanne Lansdown, executive director for Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, said without snap the entire Wilmington economy could suffer.
“Those families spend their money at all of our places of business at our grocery stores at our small businesses,” she said.
Lansdown said they served over 280 families in three hours on Wednesday and they continue to see new faces.
“Open your hearts and think about your neighbors, we’re supposed to take care of the people around us that need us.”
Across the city, Nourish NC regularly serves over 2,400 kids with food insecurity. Heater Sellgren, director of development at the nonprofit said they’ve seen an uptick in need.
“We just want them to know that we here for them no matter what,” Sellgren said.
Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard and Nourish NC are actively taking donations.
