WHYY: Nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians are facing a SNAP funding freeze. Here’s how to find alternative food resources — and how to help
Federal food aid has not gone out for the month of November amid the government shutdown that began Oct. 1.
President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday said it will partially fund SNAP after a pair of judges’ rulings required it to keep the program running. It remains unclear how much beneficiaries will receive and how quickly recipients’ debit cards may be reloaded.
A surge in demand due to paused SNAP benefits and shutdown furloughs would likely exacerbate existing pressure on local food banks.
Share Food Program, which serves the Greater Philadelphia region, has already had to cut its budget by 20% this year, executive director George Matysik told The Associated Press.
WHYY: Philadelphia food banks rush to meet increased demand amid SNAP freeze
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a disaster declaration Friday to direct $5 million in state funding to the nonprofit organization Feeding Pennsylvania to help food banks purchase more healthy food, including from local farmers.
Food banks are hopeful the funding will help them meet the demand. However, the funding doesn’t match the $366 million in monthly SNAP benefits Pennsylvanians receive, and food banks continue to urge the federal government to keep SNAP benefits afloat.
Axios: As Pennsylvania sues over SNAP cuts, Philly steps up to fill gap
More than a third of Pennsylvania’s SNAP recipients are under 18. In Philadelphia, more than 470,000 — or nearly 1 in 3 residents — receive the benefits.
Already strained by other federal program cuts, food banks warn they won’t be able to keep up with the surge in need when SNAP benefits run out.
“What the shutdown is doing is it’s just, instead of throwing water on the fire, it’s throwing gasoline on it,” said George Matysik, the executive director of Philadelphia-based Share Food Program.
PRESS RELEASE: Share Food Program Brings Local Partners to Capitol to Advocate for Hunger Relief
Share Food Program led a coalition of community advocates and hunger relief partners to the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg to call for urgent action to protect food assistance programs amid the shutdown of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the state budget impasse.
Associated Press: Food banks are preparing for a surge as federal food aid could be paused in the government shutdown
Food pantries provide about 1 meal to every 9 provided by SNAP.
“When you take SNAP away, the implications are cataclysmic,” Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot said. “I assume people are assuming that somebody’s going to stop it before it gets too bad. Well, it’s already too bad. And it’s getting worse.”
Some distributors are already seeing startling low food supplies. George Matysik, executive director of Share Food Program in the Philadelphia area, said a state government budget impasse had already cut funding for his program.
“I’ve been here seven years,” Matysik said. “I’ve never seen our warehouses as empty as they are right now.”
The New York Times: Hunger and Cold Loom as Shutdown Imperils Funding for Antipoverty Programs
The shutdown is compounding the challenges faced by the Share Food Program, a hunger relief organization in Philadelphia that already saw cuts to its federal funding, said George Matysik, the program’s executive director.
Food banks are familiar with crises caused by natural disasters, he noted.
“But we’ve never had to train for a crisis of our own federal government’s creation,” he said.
PhillyVoice: Pause on SNAP benefits would put ‘massive strain’ on Philly food banks
“To think that every food bank would have to grow ninefold overnight to keep up with the need is just not realistic,” said George Matysik, executive director of Philly’s Share Food Program, which supplies food pantries and community fridges. “So, what that means for us is that we’re going to feel a crush for our services unlike anything we’ve ever felt before.”
USA TODAY: Will SNAP benefits be sent in November? ‘Inflection point’ is near, USDA says
George Matysik, executive director of Share Food Program, a Philadelphia food bank, told USA TODAY that with the lapse in SNAP benefit funding, his organization is ramping up donations and buying additional food.
However, Matysik emphasized that food banks were already operating under federal funding cuts earlier this year before the government shutdown.
“The amount of food that SNAP provides has been estimated to be nine times larger than the entire food bank network combined, so to think that we at food banks alone can be the sole resource to pick up this slack for government’s failure in this moment, it’s very unreasonable,” Matysik said.
SNAP work requirements are changing (again) November 1, 2025. Here’s what to know.
Because of the Republican budget bill passed by Congress and signed by President Trump, you might need to report work, education, training, or volunteer hours to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) in order to receive—or continue to receive—your SNAP benefits.
As of November 1, 2025, SNAP recipients who meet certain criteria must report at least 20 hours a week (or 80 hours a month) of work, volunteering, education or training.
Work and reporting changes apply if you are: 18-64 years old; do not have a dependent child under 14; are physically and mentally able to work