Soon after the government shutdown began on Oct. 1, the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Long Beach and Orange County (Calif.) realized that funding for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, would run out by the end of the month. Knowing that people who rely on SNAP would need help from local food banks if that dried up, the agency preemptively doubled its food budget for November.

 

That decision has proved prescient as the shutdown persists and those SNAP benefits are poised to dry up in two days.

Although many Jewish nonprofits also provide food support to the broader community, some 20% of Jewish families are financially vulnerable, David Goldfarb, senior director of the Jewish Federations of North America’s Strategic Health Resource Center, told eJP. That number increases among Holocaust survivors, he added, where 1 in 3 live in poverty and rely on programs like SNAP.

 

“This is a very, very serious issue,” said Goldfarb. “I think what’s very scary is to think of folks like that and what they might be experiencing. That they might not have food anymore and are being re-traumatized by some of these risks, particularly in light of the current environment in the United States.” 

 

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