CHICOPEE — As she swung through western Massachusetts to show appreciation to staffers and volunteers at the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts late Monday morning, Gov. Maura Healey also used the appearance to take a swipe at President Donald Trump for the “cruel and callous” way he froze funding for low-income residents during the federal government shutdown.
“They have just done incredible work over the last several weeks dealing with the aftermath of President Trump’s cut to food,” Healey said of those behind the scenes at the regional food bank that serves the four counties of western Massachusetts. “We had a crisis in hunger in this country before the president cut SNAP, and that crisis is still out there.”
The governor was referring to the Trump administration’s decision to freeze Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds on Nov. 1, leaving 1.1 million Massachusetts households without the funds to feed their families.
In response, the Healey administration fought the federal action in court, where a judge ordered the Trump administration to pay SNAP benefits despite the ongoing government shutdown. Families had their SNAP cards fully loaded by Nov. 10, but the period created fear and uncertainty in food insecure and vulnerable populations.
“I think what happened was cruel and callous. Never before has a president in the United States chosen not to fund SNAP during a federal government shutdown,” Healey said. “I sure hope that as we go forward, human beings aren’t used as political pawns.”
At least 13,000 Hampshire County households and 12,000 Franklin County households rely on SNAP to buy groceries. Sary Torres and Damaris Arroyo, members of the Food Assistance Navigation team at the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, said they saw a 604% increase in calls during the past three weeks. The call volume calmed down once the government reopened on Nov. 13.
“They didn’t know if they were going to get any SNAP so they were looking for information, for pantries, for any kind of help that they can find to get food,” Torres said.
In response to the SNAP freeze, Laura Sylvester, public policy manager at the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, said the food bank went into “overdrive.” The pantry ordered $350,000 additional pounds of food. Staff increased deliveries, added food packing shifts and opened three new pop-up pantries in Holyoke, Ware and Greenfield. The community supplied the regional food bank with the volunteers, drives and donations to build out their infrastructure.
“The community has been incredibly generous,” Sylvester said. “People really step up when they when they hear what’s happening. Nobody wants to see friends and neighbors go hungry.”
Volunteer Coordinator Alison Sjoberg said that demand for volunteers increased significantly. While there is typically an uptick in volunteers in November and December, Sjoberg often has a handful of open shifts to sort and pack food during the holiday season. But this year, all of the Food Bank’s shifts are filled through the end of the year. Groups and individuals who could not volunteer this year are signing up for openings in January and February.
“They’re not just looking for the now, they’re looking for the future, which is great,” Sjoberg said. “The need is still there for volunteers, but we definitely have seen the community stepping up to help and fill whatever that looks like.”
Healey met some of those volunteers packing and sorting food for nearly 200 pantries and soup kitchens in Hampshire, Hampden, Berkshire and Franklin counties. While Sylvester said Healey’s visit was an honor, she is equally gracious for the governor releasing Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program funds early, allowing the food bank to purchase more food.
However, that extra money was not enough to supplement SNAP benefits. Executive Director of Food Bank of Western Massachusetts Andrew Morehouse said the food bank dipped into private funds to meet the increase in demand.
“The biggest lesson we learned, as predicted, is food banks cannot replace SNAP benefits,” Morehouse said. “For our food bank and for every meal that we provide, the SNAP program provides about seven meals here in the four counties of western Massachusetts.”
Any strain on the food security system extends past the food bank to its pantries and partners. Donna Marratta, board president of Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen & Pantry in Chicopee, said visitors to the soup kitchen rose from 60 people to 168 people a day. Many of these new faces are seniors whose Social Security or retirement payments no longer last as long as they use to.
“People were afraid of what was going to happen because things kept changing,” she told Healey.
The governor said she hopes that SNAP benefits are here to stay and doubts the Trump administration will attempt to withhold funding again. Regardless, she encourages residents to continue to volunteer and give to their local food banks and pantries.
“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that any funds flowing from the federal government get out the door as quickly as possible,” Healey said. “We’ve been able to do that with SNAP. We’re going to make sure we do that with Head Start and WIC and heating assistance, other [funds] that our residents rely on.”
