The Casa San Miguel Food Pantry is one of the largest food distribution sites in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is primarily funded by Sunday morning collections and monthly commitments from the parishioners of St. Michael and All Angels Church. In 2023, it distributed an average of 5,592 pounds of food every Tuesday morning.
“While we’ve gotten used to occasionally having to turn families away towards the end of our distribution, we had to cut our line off just seven minutes after we opened this past week because we were at capacity,” the Rev. Mike Angell, rector of St. Michael and All Angels, told The Living Church on October 30.
He added, “There is no way for food pantries of any size to take care of all of the need that will come about. We have to advocate for sensible aid to families who are hungry.”
Angell referred to an imminent pause of SNAP benefits on November 1—a result of the month-long government shutdown and the decision of the U.S. Department of Agriculture not to tap into its $5 billion contingency to fund the program relied on by 42 million low-income people across the country.
“What we know for sure is that our efforts cannot come close to filling the gap that will open when the SNAP benefits don’t arrive,” Angell told TLC.
New Mexico would be one of the hardest-hit states. Compared to other states, it has the highest share of residents—21 percent of the population—relying on the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the federal program historically known as food stamps.
Beneficiaries receive a specific amount—in New Mexico’s case, $200 per person, or $1,000 for a family of four—loaded onto an EBT (electronic benefits transfer) card. The money can be used to purchase fruits, vegetables, produce, and dairy items from SNAP retailers. There are over 250,000 retailers nationwide, including Walmart, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and farmers’ markets.
According to the USDA, most households on SNAP live in poverty, with 73 percent having a gross monthly income at or below 100 percent of the poverty level. Children account for 39 percent of recipients.
In New York City, 1.7 million residents will be affected by the pause. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan sought support for the cathedral’s social service program, Cathedral Community Cares (CCC).
“That’s a choice our government has made,” said the Very Rev. Winnie Varghese, dean of the cathedral, in a video message about the halt of federal funding for SNAP, “and it put us in a precarious position here in the city.” She explained that most people who receive benefits are on SNAP for six to 12 months and that “it’s a bridge for a really difficult time, or if a person is elderly or disabled, it’s a needed program for the rest of their lives.”
“We’ve been looking at how we can be a support to our community at this time,” Varghese added.
Thomas Perry, the director of CCC, who appeared with Varghese in the video, said that in the past three months he and his team have seen an increase in clients coming to the cathedral’s pantry, soup kitchen, and clothing closet.
“The need right now is gonna be funding to help battle this towards the end of the month,” Perry said. “We know in the beginning of the month, November 1st, it’s going to get a little bit more busier, and we need your support.”
The primary project of the cathedral will be to provide grocery cards that will function like SNAP. “So if someone doesn’t have their SNAP benefit and comes here, we can give them a card to a grocery store and they can go with dignity and buy the supplies that they need,” Varghese said.
“We hope this isn’t for a long time, but we don’t know,” she added, speaking about what one local New York City outlet called the “SNAP Shutdown Pause.”
In a letter sent on October 29 to parish clergy, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of Washington, reminded them of the Diocesan Emergency Relief Fund, which can help sustain congregational food ministry programs. She also highlighted the urgent support needed by food banks in the District-Maryland-Virginia corridor, including the Capital Area Food Bank and Maryland Food Bank. Budde also said she will direct other resources through the Bishop’s Discretionary Fund.
After New Mexico, Washington, D.C., has the second-highest share of residents relying on SNAP benefits.
“Most people who depend on SNAP benefits, they have already run out of that money well before the end of the month,” Budde told TLC. “No one should be forced to choose between eating and paying their rent. No one should be afraid to, and sick with worry about how they are going to provide for their families. And it seems like we can, we could agree on that.”
People in the Diocese of Washington are among the first to experience the affects of the Trump administration’s policies. At least 670,000 federal employees have been furloughed during the shutdown, with an additional 730,000 continuing to work without pay. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the first pay date with zero pay for some federal workers was on October 24.
“A large percentage of our congregations, the membership of our congregations, have some connection either to the federal workforce or to organizations that are affected by the policies and decisions and financial allocations of the federal government,” Budde said.
Asked how she continues to offer encouragement and ministry to parishioners, she responded, “Every chance I get at every regional gathering, every parish visitation, whenever I am working with members of a diocesan leadership body, always, we stop and we pray.”
Budde became a national figure earlier this year after she appealed to President Trump on behalf of the LGBT and immigrant communities during the Washington National Cathedral’s interfaith Service of Prayer for the Nation. She said these times call for a measure of “pastoral urgency,” especially as she leads a faith community in which “the political realm is not something distant … it’s part of the fabric of our immediate society.”
She added: “In this case it is simply a call for compassion and also moral courage at a time when the priorities of our elected officials seem to be drifting away from the very basic support systems that keep so many of our people one or two steps away from poverty.”
In the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, the federal government spent around $100 billion to fund SNAP, accounting for 1.5 percent of overall government spending.
Feeding America, a network of food banks, said that food pantries provide about one meal for every nine provided by SNAP. The food is sourced from donations, grants, and sometimes the USDA. “When you take SNAP away, the implications are cataclysmic,” Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot said in a widely circulated statement to the media. “I assume people are assuming that somebody’s going to stop it before it gets too bad. Well, it’s already too bad. And it’s getting worse.”
Governor Kathy Hochul of New York declared a state of emergency to unlock additional money for food assistance. Other states have taken similar measures to address the shortfall. Earlier, two dozen states sued the Trump administration for its refusal to fund the food benefits during the shutdown.
In New Mexico, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that the state will provide $30 million beginning November 1. It will help fund SNAP benefits for New Mexicans for 10 days.
Caleb Maglaya Galaraga is The Living Church’s Episcopal Church reporter. His work has also appeared in Christianity Today, Broadview Magazine, and Presbyterian Outlook, among other publications.
