The uncertainty surrounding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits — whether beneficiaries would receive half of their monthly benefit in November, the full amount, or none at all — has volunteers at East Hampton Town’s food pantries “tamping down the panic” to the extent possible, in the words of Kitty Merrill, administrator of the East Hampton Food Pantry.
Last month, prior to the expiration of SNAP benefits, “we were already doing January numbers,” Ms. Merrill said. “We are a seasonal economy: The biggest numbers we have are January, February, and March. We hit 1,000 people for the first time at the end of January and stayed at that for next three months. If we’re hitting 1,000 people in October, before the SNAP crisis, that’s pretty scary.”
On Tuesday, the 35th day of the latest government shutdown and four days after President Trump hosted a “Great Gatsby”-themed party at his Florida residence, the president threatened to deny food stamp payments for 42 million Americans until the government reopens, despite a federal court having ordered the continued funding of SNAP, which provides monthly benefits to eligible low-income people.
The threat came the day after administration officials’ assurances that it would make partial payments to those who receive aid under the program. The president’s threat, issued via social media on Tuesday, also followed Saturday’s order from the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island finding that the government is legally obliged to continue the program if money is available and offering a choice of providing full SNAP payments by Monday or partial benefits by yesterday.
However, according to published reports, later on Tuesday the White House press secretary said that the administration would, in fact, make partial payments in November.
Federal inaction during the government shutdown “definitely puts a lot of stress on the local food pantries,” said Alice Houseknecht of the Montauk Food Pantry, which operates from the St. Therese of Lisieux parish building but is unaffiliated with the church. This week, the pantry “is stockpiling as much food as we can because we just don’t know how many people to expect. Of course, a lot of individuals have read about this cut with federal support and we’ve been receiving some nice donations, which is really helpful because the monetary donations go further than just giving food. We all buy food in bulk and we get a better price.”
At the Springs Food Pantry, which distributes food on Wednesdays and right now serves more than 1,300 people, “we’re just taking it day by day, waiting to see what happens and what the effect will be,” said Holly Reichart-Wheaton. “Food pantries are at or close to their peak as it is. We are projecting for a 10-percent increase, on the very low end,” in clients at the Springs Food Pantry, she said, “but at least we can do that.”
Compounding the stress on food pantries is the spiraling cost of food, said Vicki Littman, chairwoman of the East Hampton Food Pantry, which also operates a satellite office at the St. Michael’s senior citizens housing complex in Amagansett, from which food is delivered directly to clients’ residences. “The food pantries in general are seeing a significant increase in food prices, before SNAP,” she said. “So we’re dealing with two issues — SNAP being cut and the increase in food prices.” The monthly expenditure on food rose from $30,000 in January to $53,000 by summer’s end, she said. “We’re feeding over 300 families per week, over 1,000 individuals.”
She, too, pointed to the town’s seasonal economy, as well as the percentage of the town’s residents who are senior citizens living on fixed incomes, as did Dorothy Cromley of the Hamptons Church food pantry in Wainscott. As it distributes food on Friday mornings, it was too soon, she said on Tuesday, to predict the impact of the interruption of SNAP benefits. “I just know that being a seasonal area, a lot of people are out of work again, so now things start to pick up.” The pantry distributes Thanksgiving meals to around 75 families, she said.
Last Thursday, the town board unanimously passed a resolution authorizing a $30,000 emergency appropriation that will be allocated in equal portions to the East Hampton, Montauk, and Springs food pantries. “The Trump administration made a conscious choice to stop SNAP benefits, not because the money isn’t there, but because they chose not to use it,” an emotional Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said at the board’s special meeting. “That decision puts seniors, veterans, children, and working families in communities like ours at risk of going hungry. Here in East Hampton, we reject that kind of neglect. We believe in standing up for our neighbors, not turning our backs on them.”
The town money will come from a fund line, “Federal Aid — Nutrition,” 90 percent of which is covered by the federal government. The town’s 2025 budget had $90,000 in expected revenues for that fund line, according to Rebecca Hansen, the town administrator, but the town has already received $132,000.
Also last Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul, anticipating at least a temporary interruption of SNAP benefits, declared a state of emergency and announced $65 million in new funding for emergency food assistance. Of that sum, $40 million is going to fund the state-run Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program, which works with food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters. The remainder goes to Nourish NY, which sends surplus agricultural products to the same groups.
New York is among 24 states that sued the Trump administration last week to release SNAP funds. The governor also fast-tracked an additional $41 million for emergency food assistance at that time.
“The Trump administration’s decision not to fully fund SNAP is indefensible,” the governor said in a statement on Monday, following the administration’s assurances that it would make partial SNAP payments. “Three million New Yorkers started this month without the food assistance they rely on and now face even more uncertainty thanks to this callous decision.”
“Every Republican in Washington should be outraged that the president is deliberately inflicting pain on the American people,” the governor continued. “Instead, they’re complicit. I’m fast-tracking over $100 million in state funds to keep food banks and pantries open so New Yorkers can put food on the table. But state resources can only go so far. President Trump must fully fund SNAP, and Republicans in Congress need to end the G.O.P. shutdown before more families suffer.
Officials of the local food pantries expressed gratitude for the town’s allocation but were realistic about the impact of a $10,000 infusion. It is “certainly going to help,” Ms. Houseknecht said. “It will get us through almost one distribution,” each of which costs a little less than $15,000. The Montauk pantry distributes food on alternate Tuesdays. “Our monthly expenses are just under $30,000,” she said.
“I have no idea how long it’s going to go on,” she said of the shutdown. “Longer than we’d like, I’m going to guess. I just feel it’s so cruel, living in a country as wealthy as ours, that the vulnerable people — the veterans, the disabled, the elderly, and the children — are the ones who will be most profoundly affected by these cuts in SNAP.”
“I try to stay out of who’s right and wrong,” Ms. Littman said of the inter-party fight over the government shutdown. “My goal is to feed any client that comes to us in need, and while they’re working in Washington, the reality is we have to figure out a way to do it until it’s resolved. It’s a very depressing state we’re all in.”
“We have to rethink the whole process of funding for families that need help,” Ms. Reichart-Wheaton said. “It can’t be allowed to happen, if the government shuts down because they can’t come to an agreement. All these people are going to go hungry. It’s not right. It’s just not right.”
