WILMINGTON, N.C. — SNAP Emergency Food Allotments ended March 1, meaning this month families will now only receive their regular food stamp payment loaded to their EBT card and will not receive a second payment for the month.
For many families, this will cause extra strain while trying to put food on the table. Many resources across the state are helping to ease that burden, including Nourish NC in Wilmington.
What You Need To Know
February was the last month families received SNAP Emergency Food Allotments
Most families were getting at least an extra $95 per month through those emergency allotments
Resources like Nourish NC are helping families feed their kids and are expecting the need to increase now that the extra benefits are gone
February was the last month families received SNAP Emergency Food Allotments
Most families were getting at least an extra $95 per month through those emergency allotments
Resources like Nourish NC are helping families feed their kids and are expecting the need to increase now that the extra benefits are gone
Nourish NC is a volunteer organization that was created 15 years ago out of a want to help hungry students.
“A nurse noticed that there were some kiddos that were going hungry over the course of the weekend,” recalled Heather Sellgren, the Director of Development and Communication for Nourish NC. “So a group of parents got together to help those kids to give them that supplemental food assistance that they needed through the weekend.”
Now, Nourish NC serves about 1,500 children in the schools throughout New Hanover County. It’s making a huge difference in students’ well-being and education, which is why Sellgren is happy to be involved.
“Honestly, I can’t imagine going to school, or actually doing anything, coming to work and being hungry, you know. How could you possibly concentrate when you’re wondering where your next meal is coming from, and you’re just filled with anxiety and apprehension,” Sellgren said. “So, to know that we’re helping to alleviate some of that for the kids in New Hanover County, it’s very moving. Tt’s emotional. It’s the reason why I do what I do.”
The organization has many programs, one of them being its backpack program. Every week, volunteers get together to pack bags of food for students that will feed them through the weekend. With SNAP emergency allotments now ended, however, there’s even more of a need.
“About 10,000 children in New Hanover County lost the emergency supplement to their snap benefits,” Sellgren said. “And these were folks that were already on the receiving snap benefits, but due to the pandemic they received an extra emergency allotment and that came to an end at the end of February.”
Sellgren says that in today’s economy, losing those benefits can be devastating.
“If you’ve been to the grocery store recently, you know that food costs are soaring, year over year looking at about a 12% increase in the cost of food. Some foods such as eggs are as much as 60% higher,” Sellgren said. “So you couple all those together, we’re hearing from our families, they’re struggling and we’re doing what we can to help support them.”
And it’s not just the backpacks, the group also has its Market on Market, known best as the MOM. It’s a free grocery store for families to come and pick out the foods that best meet their needs.
“They take a walk through the MOM. They grab a shopping cart, they grab a breakfast, large breakfast, lunch, dinner, there’s poultry. We have eggs, bread, sides, snacks,” Sellgren said. “And then we always have something supplemental. It can be anything. We’ve had diapers, toothbrushes, really whatever gets donated to us.”
Through Nourish NC, families are getting the nourishment they need, and children can go to school with full stomachs and ready to learn. That’s what makes Sellgren and the other volunteers proud of what they do.
“You don’t think twice about the work that you’re doing,” Sellgren said. “You realize what an impact that we’re making in the community.”
In addiction to the Backpack Program and the MOM, Nourish NC also has a Mobile MOM, a food pharmacy and a monthly Produce Powerup. If you’re interested in volunteering with Nourish NC, you can click here.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reports that since March 2020, an average of 900,000 households have been receiving the emergency allotments that have now ended.
