With federal benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) slated to end Saturday Nov. 1, Cambridge civic and nonprofit leaders outlined their plans to limit disruptions to food supplies for the city’s affected residents.
The City of Cambridge and Cambridge Community Foundation announced Thursday Oct. 30 that they would commit $500,000 to help feed the needy, putting $200,000 to support the Cambridge Food Pantry Network of eight pantries, and another $300,000 in grocery store gift cards to be distributed to Cambridge residents who are eligible for SNAP benefits — families, the elderly and residents with disabilities.
Civic leaders cautioned that this money was a stopgap measure — “they’re $50 gift cards,” noted Yi-An Huang, Cambridge city manager. What was meaningful was that “the community is coming together — the city in partnership with the Cambridge Community Foundation and the Cambridge Food Pantry Network.” Huang stressed that Cambridge residents receive about $1.8 million a month in SNAP benefits, meaning that $500,000 covers slightly more than a week’s worth of benefits.
There are more than 10,000 people in Cambridge, or just under 10 percent of the population, who are eligible for SNAP benefits. But “close to 40 percent of the population in Cambridge can’t really afford to live there,” said Geeta Pradhan, president of the Cambridge Community Foundation (disclosure: the CCF has provided financial support to Cambridge Day). She said many of these people are able to be here “because Cambridge is a compassionate city.” She noted that 25 percent of the housing stock is affordable.
Huang and Pradhan both attended a press conference Friday Oct. 31 with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Boston Foundation president Lee Pelton, and leaders from a number of nonprofits and local governments including administrators from Brookline and Chelsea and outgoing Somerville mayor Katjana Ballantyne. Cambridge City Councillors Sumbul Siddiqui, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and Ayesha Wilson also attended the event. Wu announced a $1 million emergency support fund aimed to help the 143,000 Boston residents who receive SNAP assistance.
Sobrinho-Wheeler invoked national politics in an email after the press conference, saying “As the Trump administration is using food for kids all over the country as a political bargaining chip in the government shutdown, Cambridge is stepping up to launch an emergency fund for residents.” He expects local pantries “will see increased demand in the coming days.”
Siddiqui, also in an email, called Cambridge’s response “a first step in what the city can do to help our most vulnerable right now.”
The government shutdown is in its 31st day, second-longest ever behind a 35-day shutdown during the first Trump Administration. It will continue at least through the weekend. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has $5.5 billion in contingency funds that the Trump Administration has so far refused to release. On Friday, two separate federal court judges ordered the federal government to release these funds to keep SNAP funded temporarily. The SNAP program costs $8 billion a month to sustain. Pradhan said she was unclear on whether the government would release the funds or even respond before 5:30 tonight.
Even when the shutdown ends, Huang and Pradhan said there will be a long-term need for local collaboration. “Federal dollars are disappearing,” Huang said, noting that ongoing cuts will affect programs like Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Head Start, housing programs, and small business grants.
This story was updated to add comments from Cambridge City Councillors who attended the Boston event, and to note that Councillor Ayesha Wilson also attended.
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Many Thanks to Everyone involved in getting this assistance into the program.
I would like to encourage other residents in the city who are not SNAP recipients and that have some funds they can spare to make a donation in to the Cambridge Community Foundation and the Cambridge Food Pantry Network to help folks out in this time of mutual need.
We must step up and help our neighbors, because it is obvious that we cannot trust the Federal Government to do so while the current Administration is in power. This could make a big difference in the weeks to come.