Foundation grants $50,000

With the status of federal food benefits in limbo, more local help is on the way.

The Portland Foundation announced Monday in a news release that it is awarding a $50,000 grant to United Way of Jay County to help address food insecurity while Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are unavailable.

“The Portland Foundation is happy to be able to assist the community in its time of need,” said foundation executive director Doug Inman in a news release. “The generosity of the countless donors who have given to the Foundation over the past seventy-four years allows us to award this grant.”

The foundation will distribute $12,500 per week for four weeks if the federal government shutdown, which has now stretched more than a month, continues. The funding will be used to acquire food, which will then be distributed to food pantries in the community.

SNAP benefits, previously known as food stamps, were cut off Saturday. (The federal government had warned that states would not later be reimbursed if they did so.) Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order Friday to provide emergency funding to address food insecurity. Indiana’s State Budget Committee last week rejected a push to use state surplus funding to help low-income Hoosiers and food banks.

But on Friday, two U.S. district judges made rulings that could reinstate those benefits. Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute contingency money “as soon as possible” for November SNAP benefits. Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts rejected the Trump administration’s stance that it is legally banned from using alternative funding sources for the program during the ongoing government shutdown.

Both judges set a Monday deadline for the Trump administration to report to the courts regarding how they would address SNAP benefits.

Still, benefits that would typically have been received on the first of the month have so far been cut off. It remains unclear whether they will be reinstated or whether they will be provided in full. The USDA said Friday that SNAP benefits could be delayed or only partially funded because contingency money will not cover a full month.

The local response to the pause in SNAP benefits included Firehouse BBQ of Dunkirk offering 50 free meals for pickup once a week beginning Sunday. The Block-Bites Truck offered 20% off Saturday, the first day that benefits were unavailable.

Second Harvest Food Bank also announced plans to activate its emergency response plan to increase food distributions in its service area — Jay, Blackford, Randolph, Delaware, Grant, Henry, Madison and Wabash counties. A special distribution was held Friday in Jay County and the regular monthly distribution is set for 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday at Jay County Fairgrounds.

According to the food bank, the cutoff affects $261,711 in monthly benefits to 1,452 Jay County residents.

The full Second Harvest food distribution schedule and details about other options for assistance are available at curehunger.org/get-help. Resources listed in Jay County include:

•Trinity ArchBridge Church Food Pantry — 3:30 to 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 323 S. Meridian St., Portland

•Asbury United Methodist Church Senior Safety Net — 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month at 204 E. Arch St., Portland

•Dunkirk Community Food Pantry — 3 to 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at Dunkirk Church of the Nazarene, 226 E. Center St., Dunkirk

Second Harvest is also asking for donations via curehunger.org/donate and volunteers via curehunger.org/get-involved/volunteer.