LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The ongoing federal government shutdown is impacting funding for programs like SNAP, and organizations like the Arkansas Foodbank are preparing for a surge in those needing support.

“SNAP is a critical program that helps ensure families all across our state have access to nutritious foods, and even a brief disruption is problematic,” DHS Secretary Janet Mann said in a statement. “Arkansans have a history of coming together to help each other in difficult times. Please check on friends, family, and neighbors and donate time or money to food banks if you are able.”

The Arkansas Foodbank supports 400 partner pantries from urban centers to rural towns. Marketing and Communications Director Sarah Jenkins said they’re rolling out toolkits to help them meet the surge, everything from extra fundraising to extended distribution hours.

“If we made everyone come to Little Rock to go to a mobile distribution, we wouldn’t be able to meet the need, that’s why we’re pushing everyone out to our 400 partner agencies,” Jenkins said.

The Arkansas DHS said it is awaiting additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers SNAP. The USDA announced it will not issue November benefits unless the federal government reopens, after the Trump administration declined to release $5 billion in contingency funds that would have extended the program.

SNAP, which helps one in eight Americans buy groceries, is a lifeline that also extends to the 240,000 recipients across Arkansas, where food insecurity is among the worst in the nation.

“For every one meal that we can provide, SNAP provides nine,” Jenkins said.  SNAP is also great because it provides dignity to the people using it.”

The organization says it’s ready for the short term, but cannot fill the federal gap alone for a state where one in four children does not have reliable access to food.

“We do have to have both community support but also government support,” Jenkins said. “The government has to reopen to support the neighbors that we serve, so we don’t have a timeline on what we can do.”

Last year, the food bank distributed more than 41 million pounds of food, but with SNAP halted, they say every donation counts.

For updates, Arkansans can visit the DHS SNAP website at HumanServices.Arkansas.gov.

Dmitry Martirosov

Dmitry Martirosov is a reporter covering K-12 education for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He writes about the issues affecting students, teachers and families and has a particular interest in transparency, as well as the day-to-day political battles over education. Before joining the Democrat-Gazette, he covered government and politics in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was a political reporter based in Columbia, Missouri, where he covered the state legislature in Jefferson City. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri, where he studied journalism and political science.

Ron Wood

Ron Wood has been a professional journalist in Arkansas for about 40 years. He has covered state and federal courts in Northwest Arkansas since 1995. Over the course of his award-winning career, he has covered a wide range of beats including city and county governments, police and fire, regional planning and transportation, education and business.