Jenna Graeff is used to seeing big crowds show up Wednesday afternoons at Loft Community Partnership’s food pantry in Millersville. In recent weeks, those afternoons have been particularly busy.
This past Wednesday, elderly people, young families, and Millersville University students shifted anxiously in line, waiting their turn to pick through the pantry for produce, canned soups, cereals, eggs, and breads. The first people in line scored the use of the nonprofit’s limited number of shopping carts. Eventually, pantry volunteers had to race back and forth from the parking lot to shuttle carts to those who needed them.
For some pantry clients, the carts were an absolute necessity, as many were picking up food for entire extended families.
Graeff, Loft’s executive director, said the nonprofit’s food pantry is serving a record number of guests. Typically, the pantry serves anywhere from 400 to 425 households each week. That number spiked to 452 households during the first week of November, when Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—formerly known as food stamps—were withheld as a result of the federal government shutdown.
“When the government shutdown created increased needs here in Penn Manor, our team at the Loft food pantry felt the weight of that uncertainty alongside our families,” Graeff said. “However, our community stepped up in a remarkable way with compassion, generosity, and genuine care for one another.”
Food pantries across the county have experienced a similar surge in demand amid the just-concluded 43-day federal government shutdown—the longest in history. Nonprofit leaders describe the need as stunning, given that SNAP benefits pay for nine meals for every one meal provided by food banks, according to the national nonprofit Feeding America.
Around 55,000 Lancaster County residents—roughly one in ten people—rely on SNAP to feed themselves and their families.
After Congress voted Wednesday to reopen the government, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services announced on Friday that it had delivered full November SNAP benefits within 48 hours of the vote.
Diane Gerlach, a volunteer at the Hempfield Area Food Pantry, said she doesn’t expect demand to die down just because SNAP benefits have been restored. Grocery prices remain high, and people who have lost their jobs will still need the pantry’s support.
Julie Rhoads, vice president of health and nutrition for Community Action Partnership of Lancaster, said a hunger crisis has been brewing in the county for years. A 2023 report by the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank—which supplies food at discounted rates to pantries across 27 counties, including Lancaster—found that food insecurity (the lack of access to adequate food) in Lancaster County increased from 7.4% in 2021 to 11.4% in 2023, affecting 64,000 people.
That need doesn’t vanish just because a budget has been signed, Rhoads said.
“While there may be a temporary reprieve, we still need to think long-term and think creatively about how we can be better prepared to meet the moment,” Rhoads said during a webinar Thursday.
At Loft, Wednesdays are always the busiest because it’s the pantry’s first day open each week, Graeff said. Most people flood the doors within the first hour, fearing that the pantry might run out of food.
Graeff said volunteers have had to limit the amount of food they set out when doors open, so they don’t unintentionally contribute to worries that food will only be available at the start of the day.
On Wednesday alone, 248 households came to the pantry for food, with 101 clients arriving within the first 50 minutes.
### Need Nearly Doubles
Food pantry workers are regularly seeing new faces in line. Several guests at Loft brought friends or neighbors to register at the pantry. A volunteer was specifically designated to meet with new clients and guide them through the intake process.
The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank is closely monitoring the rising demand. Executive Director Shila Ulrich said 25% more people accessed food services from October to November. Compared to this time last year, 40% more households now need assistance.
“(It’s) not quite doubled, but it’s certainly a high level. We’re seeing a high level of new families who have never walked into an agency or a food pantry,” Ulrich said.
Volunteers at St. John’s Episcopal Church food pantry in Lancaster registered 12 new households Tuesday, nearly half the number of households that came to pick up food that day.
Molly Moyer, a volunteer at St. John’s, said more young people are seeking food. Barbara Serras, a reverend at the church, also noticed more English speakers coming through their doors.
Family sizes vary, too. Gerlach said the average household size served by the Hempfield Area Food Pantry is about three to four people, though more single-person households have started using the pantry as well. The largest household they serve is 13 people—a multigenerational family.
Ulrich believes the broadening diversity in food recipients could be related to various factors. The pause on SNAP certainly played a role, and furloughed federal workers who were no longer receiving paychecks likely turned to food pantries as well.
### Personal Stories
Wave Lopez-Nunez, 21, walked to St. John’s pantry from his home a few blocks away last week. He lives with his partner, their 2-year-old daughter, and his partner’s parents. Tuesday was his first visit to the pantry.
Lopez-Nunez applied for SNAP benefits months ago to help feed his household, but his application is still pending. In the meantime, he often works overtime at Target to earn enough money to feed his family. They’ve mostly been living off chicken and pasta because it’s all they can afford.
Every guest at St. John’s receives a bag of assorted food including cereal, soups, pasta, beans, peanut butter, and rice, along with fresh produce and dairy products. Typically, volunteers prepare around 25 bags a day to give away, but they have started packing 50 bags to meet the rising demand.
### Increased Giving
So far, volunteers at the pantries visited last week by an LNP | LancasterOnline reporter say they’ve been able to keep up with the larger number of people seeking assistance.
Gerlach said the community response to the pause on SNAP has been overwhelming. The Hempfield Area Food Pantry works with a network of 17 churches across the Hempfield School District that quickly organized food drives to help meet demand.
A local Boy Scouts troop raised 6,500 pounds of food for the pantry. The pantry uses several rooms at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church on Brandt Boulevard in East Hempfield Township to store and sort the tons of food they’ve received over the past several weeks.
Amanda Knouse, the rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, said the key over the next several months will be “consistency” in giving.
People feel inclined to donate because of the temporary loss of SNAP benefits and the holiday season, but families will still need food assistance in the new year.
“This church is committed to making sure we never run out of food,” Knouse said.
https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/snap-benefits-go-out-to-pennsylvanians-as-lancaster-county-food-pantries-see-growing-demand/article_ff2f8809-aabb-4298-9fa8-53d69c412c03.html
