FoodShare benefits help cash-strapped Wisconsin families afford good food. But a federal program related to the COVID pandemic that put an extra $95 into the monthly budget ends after February, and that could leave some going hungry.
Patrick Boyle is the executive director of the Sheboygan County Food Bank, which distributes food throughout Sheboygan County through other food programs, and at its own Community Cafe and drive-through food pantry. Boyle told us that the end of the federal dollars has been expected, but it’s coming on short notice, saying: “We’ve been sort of knowing this has been coming for several years since the emergency supplemental benefits began, I believe in April of 2020, so we kind of always knew that this was triggered by the COVID health crisis…I think we thought we’d have 90 days to prepare, but I think they gave us 60 days. So we knew it was coming; we just weren’t sure. It just kept getting extended, but from the Food Bank perspective we were very concerned, we’re very, um, I guess concerned would be the biggest word. We were prepared to handle the…what happens next…but we expect our numbers to drastically increase as soon as the month of March, ‘cause the extra benefits end at the end of February, so we could see a sharp uptick in our numbers as early as March, but it could be later on in the spring. But we have no doubt that our numbers will be affected, and we knew it was coming.”
And, Boyle says, the effects will go beyond those now receiving benefits, telling us: “Yeah, yes, so families will be affected big-time, and then, you know, the retailers, the grocery stores, they’re going to be affected as well, seeing as how they’re not going to have that…they’re going to lose out on that participation at the grocery stores as well.”
Feeding those in need is made possible in part by the annual “Making Spirits Bright” food drive during the Holidays, which Boyle called a success, but it failed to meet the goal. “Our goal was 150,000 pounds and we raised about 121,000. So we were about 30,000 pounds short primarily because we had to close for two nights because of the weather. So that definitely affected, but the numbers were down, but we’re grateful for everything.”
But Boyle is optimistic that the people of this area have what it takes to make up the difference, saying that “It’s really super-cool, and Sheboygan is such a gracious and giving community, we’re very, very lucky and blessed to have such generous families and corporations, and I think of the family businesses, really set the tone earlier in our organizational development, you know, the culture of giving…it’s so heartwarming knowing that so many people care about their neighbors, and they certainly have stepped up.”
Those needing food or wanting to donate can visit sheboygancountyfoodbank.com
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