Blue Ridge Area Food Bank ready for impacts of SNAP benefit changes

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - The COVID-19 Pandemic allowed for many emergency funds to be put into place to assist people during a time of uncertainty, but now many of those benefits are coming to an end.

As of Thursday, the last set of emergency allotments went out to Virginians.

“Folks have gone back to kind of those pre-pandemic benefit amounts, which still could be the maximum amount based on your household income and how you are eligible but it also could be significantly lower and we’re expecting it to be significantly lower for a lot of folks,” Zachary Nissen, SNAP expert at Blue Ridge Area Food Bank said.

The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is expecting to see an increase in people using the food bank come march when the changes will begin impacting people.

Nissen said Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is continuing to work with its partners to keep food on the shelves and they are ready for the influx.

“The disbursement in March will happen, folks will shop normally and then they might be surprised that if they go to their grocery store and they’re trying to get the food they need for their family and their household and the EBT dollars aren’t there anymore,” Nissen said.

Nissen said this will lead many families to make hard choices on where they can cut expenses at.

“A household that was only getting 281 might only get 23 dollars a month and that’s a big difference in what their grocery budget is and turns out folks do need to eat every day,” Nissen said.

Nissen said the money that is still on cards won’t be taken away.

There are places to help throughout the Valley. To find the nearest food pantry visit the food finder website.

There are ways to help those who may be facing food insecurity as well. You can donate food, money or your time with volunteering at Blue Ridge Area Food Banks’s website.