El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank will reduce food distribution from five days a week to four days, operating Tuesday to Friday, the organization announced Monday. The food bank also plans to adjust distributions with pantry partners depending on available resources.
The new weekly schedule of operations is set to start the week of March 31.
Fundraising since the COVID-19 pandemic has dropped, making it challenging to meet a growing need, according to the announcement released ahead of the organization’s news conference Monday afternoon. The food bank faces added financial instability from the Trump administration, which continues to slash funding for food assistance programs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently cut more than $1 billion for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farms and ranchers. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is also temporarily withholding payments to organizations that assist migrants, though Susan Goodell, CEO of El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, said the food bank has not used federal funds to feed migrants.
“The reality is, with fewer resources, we must make tough decisions to protect core operations even as we navigate this funding crisis,” Goodell said in a news release. “With a limited local food supply, we must be laser-focused on bringing the most nutritious food into El Paso for our most vulnerable neighbors.”
About half of the food bank’s revenue in 2023 came from government grants, according to the organization’s latest available annual report. Most of the rest came from corporations, foundations and individual donors.
The Trump administration earlier this year froze federal grants before quickly rescinding the freeze, which nonprofit leaders said highlighted the caution surrounding projects that rely on grants for sustainability.
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Texas is still struggling to keep up with the SNAP benefits backlog as the number of delayed applications grows. In El Paso, the food bank is helping families expedite their cases.
El Pasoans Fighting Hunger served an estimated 88.5 million meals to low-income families across its main distribution site in the Lower Valley, partner agencies and mobile food pantries, according to the 2023 report.
Other programs include public school pantries for families to access groceries at their children’s schools and food delivery for people ages 60 and up, disabled or homebound. The food bank also employs staff to help people sign up for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.
In January of this year, more than 69,000 households in El Paso County were enrolled in SNAP, and nearly 148,000 individuals were eligible for benefits – numbers up from January of last year, according to Texas Health and Human Services data.
SNAP benefits could take a potential hit, however, under Republican leadership. House Republicans recently passed a budget resolution that would cut $230 billion from the committee that oversees SNAP benefits over the next decade.
El Pasoans wishing to give money or time to the food bank can donate or sign up for volunteer slots online.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Disclosure: El Paso Matters CEO Robert Moore is a board member for El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank. The newsroom’s policy on editorial independence can be found here.
The post El Paso food bank reduces hours of operation amid unstable funding appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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