CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (WTXL) — With SNAP running out on November 1st, many neighbors look to food pantries to stay fed, the Crawfordville United Methodist Church being one of them.
- 208 families were fed at Wednesday's food pantry in Crawfordville.
- The church believes in making a difference in our neighborhoods.
- Watch the video below to learn more about how this pantry is trying to help neighbors as SNAP is about to run out.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Wednesday morning, dozens upon dozens of cars lined up here on Ochlocknee St. to receive free food from the Crawfordville United Methodist church some as early as 6 am.
The church anticipated the influx of people for Wednesday’s food pantry as SNAP is set to run out later this week.
"It's always important to help the community that the church is in," said Ginger Cooksey, the organizer of the Crawfordville UMC food pantry.
With no end to the government shutdown in sight, millions of people across the country are preparing for loss of SNAP benefits come November 1st. That also includes the almost 3 million Floridians who receive snap benefits.
Wakulla local Logan Wortwick says he currently receives snap to help feed his family of 6 kids and 2 grandkids. Especially because he’s a handyman who only gets paid when a job is done.
"Very grateful, because without snap, we probably couldn't feed the kids the nutritional stuff that they need, versus just buying like hamburger helper and stuff like that," explained Logan Wortwick, a neighbor on snap. "With this, I can buy fruits and vegetables and stuff, and I can get their snacks for school. The snap bridges the gap between paychecks a lot."
He says SNAP roughly covers around $900 of the food bill, and that means more money for other bills to support his family.
He and his family will be some of the millions looking to local pantries to help the gap that the lack of SNAP has left.
Many food pantries across the Big Bend and south Georgia are preparing for this influx of people, even right here in Crawfordville.
"We usually have 160-180 families come through," explained Cooksey. "We have no idea what, you know, is going to happen today? How many people are going to come through today."
208 families were served at the bi-monthly food pantry that the church ran on October 29th. That’s roughly 30-60 more than their usual.
Neighbors in line told me that having this and other pantries like it have been a godsend. The church holds this pantry because they want to be a resource for the whole community.
"I heard somebody say one time is 'if you think of it as if your church disappeared tomorrow, what would the community lose? You know, would anybody notice if your church all of a sudden wasn't here?'" said Cooksey.
If you wish to help the church with their future pantries by donating and/or volunteering you can reach out to the church at (850) 926-7209.
If you are in need of food, you click here for more information on other pantries around the big bend and south Georgia.
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