Community bands together amid SNAP suspension

As politicians and judges continued to play tug-of-war over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) this past week, people in need continued to line up at food banks, churches, and restaurants serving SNAP recipients — all unsure of where their next meal would come from.

Following last week’s distribution of partial SNAP payments in North Carolina, the U.S. Supreme Court extended the suspension of SNAP on Tuesday. Although senators and the House of Representatives finally approached a settling point on the government shutdown after nearly two months — the longest shutdown in American history — the effects of continued SNAP suspension on local families reverberated throughout the nation.

Across Burke County, several small businesses and churches picked up the slack in community support, offering free meals to anyone who presented a SNAP/EBT card.

Beck’s Country Kitchen owner Reid Beck said, “My wife and I aren’t doing this for attention or publicity. We’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do. When folks in our community are struggling, we believe you step up and help however you can.”

The country kitchen, in Chesterfield, posted the announcement on Facebook at the beginning of the month, offering a choice of two chicken tenders, a hot dog, or a four-ounce hamburger to any child or elderly resident who presents a SNAP card. Each entree comes with a side of fries.

According to the Beck’s Country Kitchen Facebook page, they are open Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“Our posts have said it’s for children 18 and under and elderly adults, but we’ve made it clear to our staff that our job in this community is to feed people,” Beck said. “We’ve told them that if someone comes in hungry, they are to feed them — no questions asked.”

Beck’s Country Kitchen is funding the meals out of its own pockets, focusing on impact over cost analysis.

“My favorite part of serving the meals is getting to sit down and talk with the kids and joke around while they’re waiting for their food. Seeing their smiles and hearing their laughter makes every bit of it worth it,” Beck said.

“I hope people realize that small businesses are the backbone of our community,” he added. “Small business owners live here, raise families here, and have a stake in this community. We care about our neighbors. I just hope people see that and continue to support local instead of these massive corporations.”

Beck’s Country Kitchen isn’t the only option for families feeling the effects of the suspension.

Other local businesses jumped into the fray, such as Reptile Cantina, which whipped up a Mexican bean soup chock full of healthy ingredients. They serve the soup and take pay-it-forward donations Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.

CHURCH PANTRIES

Fifteen minutes east, in Drexel, leaders at Drexel First Baptist Church passed out free food on Wednesday to families in need when they presented proof of SNAP benefits.

Interim pastor Mike Chandler stepped away from the church’s weekly elementary student tutoring session to discuss the program.

“We feel like when there’s an urgency and a crisis, we need to meet the need,” Chandler said. “There’s no secret. There’s a crisis with people on SNAP. We just know that there’s a massive amount of fear, unrest, and hopelessness. They don’t know what’s next, so we want to alleviate that and bring hope to them.”

Receiving their food from Second Harvest — a nonprofit that works with grocery stores and meal assistance partners to serve 18 counties in North Carolina — Drexel First Baptist previously distributed food on the second Sunday of every month. Seeing the concern in the community, they expanded the program to include every Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

“We’re going to do it as long as we can,” Chandler said. “I don’t think just this current crisis is driving it. That’s what got us into it, but we don’t see it stopping because of SNAP. People are hurting. The cost of groceries has gone up. The cost of living has gone up and people lost jobs and the job market is not good … The reality is there’s a lot of people looking for work and there’s not work.”

While they try to spread their immediate impact in the town of Drexel through deliveries, fliers, and general word of mouth, they wouldn’t turn away anyone in need.

“We want to focus on Drexel and really take care of them,” Chandler said. “They’re our community. I think if all our churches would take care of their pocket, we’d be a lot better place.”

INCREASED NEED AT BUCM

Earlier in the week, at Burke United Christian Ministries (BUCM), cars lined the edges of the parking lot, stretching around the property, down the driveway, and out onto U.S. 70. According to BUCM Executive Director Alice Horton, that’s how it’d been for weeks, and she didn’t expect it to slow down while the suspension of SNAP continued.

“It’s much worse on Friday than it is today [on Monday],” Horton said. “Next week, everything in my body wants [to operate] every day. We hope that we can. But we also need enough hands to be able to do that.”

In previous weeks, BUCM ran on a two-day week during renovations to their building, opening on Mondays and Fridays to distribute boxes of food while volunteers handed out daily sandwich meals in the parking lot.

Next week, the goal is to start handing out hot meals each day between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and distributing food supplies from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Although she’s eager to get started, Chef Pam Gattone is keeping the menu under wraps.

“That seems to be the question everybody’s asking and they’re not getting an answer,” Gattone said. “Everybody is welcome. Everybody … I want to make the food good enough that we can get people in off the street, because if they come in, then they [might] leave a donation. The more it gets seen by the public, the better. The more help we can get.”

Although they do need and greatly appreciate the influx of volunteers, Horton explained that interested people have to go through a process that begins with applying at bucm.net/volunteer.

“We want to protect not only the ministry, but we want to protect our clients,” Horton said. “I don’t let just anybody come volunteer — they have to be vetted. Lots of people can walk on the scene of other places, but we don’t allow that. We never have.”

Inside the building, kitchen staff bagged and distributed sandwich meals to anyone who ventured into the cafeteria. A few tables were filled with people bundled in coats and toboggans, enjoying the food and the warmth of the newly opened room.

“I think it’s nice that this side of town has something for people,” BUCM client Michael Lee said. Nodding toward the security guard, he said, “They’re excellent. It’s a good place. They make you feel safe.”

About 600,000 N.C. households — approximately 5,600 in Burke County — should have seen the full amount of November SNAP payments loaded onto their EBT cards by Friday, Nov. 14, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

About 1.4 million people in North Carolina, or nearly 13% of the population, receive SNAP benefits, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The number has declined from a peak of 1.7 million in 2013, or 17% of the population. That compares with about 10.5% of South Carolina’s population receiving the benefits; 9.8% in Tennessee; and 9.4% in Virginia. Nationally, about 12.4% of Americans receive SNAP.