During the COVID-19 pandemic, Minnesota received a special waiver from the federal government to temporarily provide extra Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits known as Emergency SNAP, or E-SNAP, to qualified individuals and families. Some of you may know SNAP as food stamps.
SNAP has strict income guidelines and sets maximum benefits per month based on family size. For example, a family of four can qualify only if they earn less than $55,000 a year. SNAP also assumes a household spends a percentage of its net income on food, and the monthly SNAP benefit covers the difference based on family size and a “thrifty food plan” spending amount.
During the pandemic, these benefit calculation rules were suspended, which meant all households received the maximum allotment for their household size – or, if they were already getting the maximum amount, households received an additional $95 each month. For thousands of families, E-SNAP provided crucial and timely financial support to buy groceries, especially during the height of inflation.
Most households received their last E-SNAP payment in March and benefits returned to the standard amount in April. Experts estimate this equates to $90 less per person in the family each month. Since then, VEAP’s food pantry has been feeling the effects.
VEAP is aiming to ramp up support this summer so we can fully meet the need for food in our community and offer the critical social services to counsel families as they work to build long-term financial stability in their lives.
Will you join us in reaching our goal of raising 500,000 meals this July 1 – 31?
We’re thrilled to share that a pair of local families has heeded our call for help and is now offering a dollar-for-dollar match up to $50,000 on every gift received this July! Please join us in taking advantage of this incredible opportunity to doubly support the individuals we serve—young kids, low-income college students, single adults on the brink of homelessness, and seniors struggling to make ends meet.
Thank you for your commitment to our cause!