Times staff report
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell dropped in on the Birmingham City Council meeting on Tuesday to thank Mayor Randall Woodfin and the council for allocating $1 million to help feed SNAP recipients who may receive lesser amounts of food aid due to the federal government shutdown.
“The reality is people are struggling,” Sewell said.
After leaving City Hall, Sewell went to the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama to help pack meals.
“We need to put party and partisanship aside and do our jobs as lawmakers,” Sewell said at the Food Bank. “People send us there (Washington) not to close government but to have government open and fully fund it. Hunger knows no politics. It’s no respecter of persons. It effects Republicans and Democrats. To me, it’s not about party.”
On Monday, Mayor Randall Woodfin and City Councilor Hunter Williams helped kicked off Birmingham’s response to cuts in SNAP benefits with a community-wide food relief drive at the Christian Service Mission.
The food drive will run daily through Thursday, November 6, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 3600 Third Ave. South.
“The moment that we’re in requires us to open up our hearts, and our checkbooks,” Woodfin said. “Birmingham, Alabama, has always been in the top 10 of the most altruistic giving cities in America … I am convinced that there will be an overwhelming amount of support for this food drive.”
Williams said the point and message of the food drive “is very simple … this is not something that we can ignore and say, ‘This is a problem that Washington created. Let’s let Washington fix it.’ What is going on with the holdup of SNAP benefits will have such an adverse effect on our community here in the state of Alabama as well as the central Birmingham region.”
The Trump administration said Monday it will partially fund the SNAP program, after two judges issued rulings requiring it to keep the nation’s largest food aid program afloat.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, had planned to freeze payments starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer fund it during the federal government shutdown.
SNAP is the nation’s most extensive anti-hunger program, serving nearly 42 million people nationwide.
The program, often referred to in the past as food stamps, serves about 1 in 8 Americans. It costs more than $8 billion per month nationally. The government says an emergency fund it will use has $4.65 billion, enough to cover about half the normal benefits.
The average SNAP benefit is $180 per month per person, or about $6 per day,
Nearly 23,000 Birmingham households – one in four – rely on SNAP. Statewide, more than 750,000 Alabamians depend on more than $140 million in support each month.
Statewide, more than 750,000 Alabamians depend on more than $140 million in support each month.
Sewell said there are enough emergency funds available to cover SNAP payments.
“Most of them receive under $10 a day,” Sewell said of SNAP recipients. “Most of them are working poor.”
About 45 percent of the SNAP recipients in her Seventh Congressional District have children, Sewell said.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND AID
For more information on how to donate, volunteer, or find a nearby food distribution site, visit gracekleincommunity.com or the BHAM Ready website.
NEED HELP? Anyone impacted by the pause in SNAP benefits or any other crisis can call 211, text ALFOOD to 898211 or visit the United Way of Central Alabama’s online database to find local food resources.
DONATE FUNDS: The Community Food Bank of Central Alabama can stretch a single dollar into four meals, so every bit you can share helps. Click here to learn more and donate.
DONATE FOOD: Shelf-stable items can be dropped off at the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama’s warehouse.
WHERE: 107 Walter Davis Drive in Birmingham, AL
WHEN: Monday through Friday | 7:30AM-4PM
VOLUNTEER: Volunteer opportunities are available Monday-Friday 9-11AM and 1-3PM. Click here to check availability and to register.
