Chippewa Valley Responds to SNAP Delays to Help Neighbors

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (WCFW) – Some Chippewa Valley residents and organizations have taken it upon themselves to help neighbors in need amid delays with FoodShare funding.

Funding for SNAP programs, known as FoodShare in Wisconsin, has been at the center of a legal battle during the ongoing federal government shutdown. Regardless of how that legal battle turns out, November SNAP benefits for nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites have already been delayed.

Last week, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ordered the Trump administration to use contingency funding to provide people who use the program with the assistance they need for November. On Monday, the administration said it would only partially fund the program during the shutdown and pay out 65 percent of the usual benefits.

That decision led to another court order on Thursday, requiring the administration to fully fund SNAP programs. In that order, Judge McConnell accused the Trump administration of intending to defy the previous court order and causing irreparable harm for millions of Americans. The Department of Justice plans to appeal that order.

As that legal battle and the government shutdown continue, Chippewa Valley residents and organizations are stepping up to help their neighbors in need. Last week, local officials gathered at The Community Table in Eau Claire and warned of the consequences losing FoodShare benefits would have on the region.

Ash Rundquist, a Kitchen Manager at The Community Table, says the organization had already seen an uptick in visitors over the last year who heavily rely on the meals they receive at the downtown facility. “A lot of folks rely on us for their one meal a day,” they said. “I’ve got folks that come in here and we serve a lunch, but they haven’t eaten breakfast and they won’t eat dinner. The next time they eat is the next time they come in here. So we have to meet all the nutritious needs, we have to do our best we can with the donations we get to do that.”

Losing access to FoodShare benefits won’t only affect the residents who depend on them either. Without the ability to use those benefits, those residents aren’t able to shop at their local grocery stores.

“Our grocery stores are hanging on, especially in the rural areas,” said State Representative Jodi Emerson. “And I think about the little grocery store in Bloomer, or Augusta, or Osseo, and losing these SNAP benefits and that money coming in may put them out of business. And then what’s going to happen? Even after the government opens up and SNAP benefits resume, there is going to be no place for people in those communities to be buying their food.”

This week, a group of Chippewa Valley residents began packing their own meals for area families in need. Chippewa Valley Indivisible and The Care Collective held their first mutual aid meal packing party on Tuesday, putting together over 100 meals for their hungry neighbors. Cyndi Greening, an organizer with Chippewa Valley Indivisible, said their goal was to help FoodShare recipients who may not be able to get to an area food pantry for meals.

“If people can get to the pantry and to the hot meals, awesome,” she said. “And we recommend everybody keep donating to the pantries, keep donating to Agnes’ Table, The Community Table, all of those, please. But there are folks, and I think of like a young woman I know who works, goes to nursing school, and has two kids and she had SNAP dollars that she lost. So she can’t get to those places, but she would sure like to feed her kids. And so these bags have a meal that feeds a family of four so if she can pick them up, whenever’s convenient for her like at the Chippewa Y, she can take them home, cook them up, feed her kids, feed her, and then go back to studying for the next final.”

On Thursday, the group announced the first set of meals was available for pickup at the YMCA in Chippewa Falls and at Eau Claire Acupuncture. They’re also seeking additional distribution hubs to help as many people as possible. Jen Cook, a volunteer at Tuesday’s packing event, said putting together the meals made her feel like she was really making a difference. “I donated to the food pantry too, but you don’t see that,” she said. “This you can see. These are meals that people are going to be able to take home.”

A number of area organizations, like Dunn County Wellbeing Ambassadors and the Menomonie Market Food Co-op are hosting food drives to help residents in need. The Children’s Museum of Eau Claire is also offering free admission for families who receive SNAP or WIC benefits to ensure kids have a safe place to learn and play.