“Unfortunately, we don’t really have a huge budget to do this, so I’m pulling some of our food budget from next year and using those funds now in the hopes that this shutdown doesn’t last long term,” said SHFB Executive Director Alex Jackson.
Second Harvest Food Bank seeing fewer funds, increased demand
The organization, which is a partner food bank of Feeding America, is prioritizing distribution based on which community pantries serve earliest in the month, Jackson said. SHFB is purchasing and bringing in double the amount of typical food stock, but Jackson estimated it could sustain that for about three months at a deficit for next year.
“After that, we would be out of our food procurement budget without some major donations, financial donations from the community to help cover these costs,” Jackson said. “Because we also have some federal food that is still coming in but it’s drastically down, and we don’t know at what point that food will stop coming.”
Some federal food is still coming in, but that’s drastically down, Jackson said.
Second Harvest lost approximately $500,000 in government support that the organization had been expecting to receive when federal funding was cut earlier this year. In March, the feds canceled a more than $200,000 recent federal food shipment.
Federal workers who live in Clark County and those who receive SNAP benefits have already increased patronage of food banks, and more are anticipated, Jackson said.
“This month, we’ve already started seeing twice as many people coming out to our mobiles (pantries) and some of the distributions that we had seen in previous months,” Jackson said. “Part of that is federal employees who are not getting paid, and then the other side of that is people that are on SNAP that are worried, and families that are worried that, ‘OK, if I’m not going to get my SNAP benefits next month, let me try to get what food I can so we have something.”
About 18.4% of people in Clark County use SNAP, compared to 12.4% in Ohio and 11.8% nationwide, according to the Clark County Combined Health District’s 2025 health assessment.
To find food distribution locations and schedules, visit theshfb.org/findfood. People can sign up to order ahead and pick up their food in the agency’s food lockers as well, Jackson said.
For those who have never been to a food bank, they should bring their driver’s license or state issued ID, which is a federal requirement, Jackson said.
The food bank would appreciate monetary donations to help it cover the large increase in costs, Jackson said.
Clark County has high rate of households on SNAP
Clark County has 24,386 households on SNAP as of August, according to Department of Job and Family Services (DJFS) data. This is an almost 2,000 decrease from 26,354 in August 2024.
The average monthly SNAP benefit for a Clark County household is $236, Clark County DJFS Director Tom McGrath said.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
About 11.3% of families in Clark County are living below the federal poverty line, compared to 9.2% statewide, according to the county health assessment.
Clark County’s Latino and Black residents had the highest rates of food insecurity at 33% and 30%, respectively. Additionally, 23% of children in the county are food insecure, according to the health assessment.
“It seems that the most vulnerable in our community who need temporary help are facing a huge uphill battle just to survive,” Clark County Health Commissioner Chris Cook said.
But people receiving the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) benefits, a federally funded program that provides food benefits to moms and young children, will still receive assistance, Cook said.
WIC in Clark County has operated on state reallocations during the shutdown, and last week, the health department learned those dollars, which are a federal pass-through in Ohio, will be available for WIC “to at least start November,” Cook said.
Tariff revenue will in part be used to support federal WIC programs, Cook said Sen. Jon Husted’s office shared with the health department.
“Many of our folks who receive WIC support also receive SNAP benefits, so it’s even more critical that we continue to supply WIC foods if SNAP becomes unavailable,” Cook said.
Local grocery stores may see a decrease in sales with SNAP shoppers missing benefits, Jackson said.
About 1.5 million Ohioans receive monthly SNAP benefits with an average of $168 per person, Jackson said.
In Ohio, SNAP benefits are staggered, meaning whatever date in a month a household is approved is the monthly date they will receive funds, McGrath said.
“It’s not that everybody will be without benefits on the first as far as being dispersed to everybody, so that could be considered good news if they open up the government,” McGrath said.
Unused benefits issued before Nov. 1 will still be available after that date on a person’s SNAP EBT card, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
DJFS is still accepting and processing SNAP applications and will continue to do so unless and until the state tells it to pause, McGrath said.
‘The uncertainty of it moving forward, it’s horrible’
The state DJFS and Clark County DJFS are communicating daily about the shutdown and the county will learn of major updates quickly, McGrath said.
“If you’re receiving them and you’re counting on the benefits with the uncertainty of it moving forward, it’s horrible,” McGrath said.
He said DJFS is providing information on food and other assistance, and is accepting applications for Medicaid and Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF), which helps families with children pay for food, child care, housing and home energy. These programs are currently still active under the government shutdown.
The federal government shutdown began Oct. 1 after Republicans and Democrats in the Senate failed to reach an agreement to fund the government for fiscal year 2026.
With thousands of people without money to put food on the table and SHFB contending with increased demand on smaller budgets, the community needs to step in, Jackson said.
“This is the time where we need our community to come together and rally behind us as we meet this need,” Jackson said.
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