SNAP returns in Lane County but food insecurity worries remain high

Kai Sales finally saw a balance Friday — money to buy groceries — when she checked her online account for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits. 

The full $508 arrived — almost double the previous month’s amount, so she could feed a new addition to the family, her 2-month-old daughter.

At the end of October, unsure when the benefits would load in a politically taut government shutdown, she and her husband stocked up at a pop-up food pantry on Halloween. It was a mobile Food for Lane County event her husband noticed on his drive home from his job working with lumber. 

“We kind of do rely on it [SNAP], especially when my husband’s the only one with income, the only one working,” Sales said.

She is one of about 75,000 people in Lane County who have dealt with lapses or uncertainty with their federal food aid amid the federal shutdown. 

A degree of relief came Friday, when Gov. Tina Kotek announced more than 750,000 Oregonians would have full SNAP benefits return after a federal court ordered the Trump administration to release the funding. 

Local nonprofit leaders who feed Lane County residents who face food insecurity say the restoration of SNAP benefits is a good step but not the end of the challenge. Food insecurity remains high against a backdrop of inflation and cuts that have reduced SNAP eligibility and trimmed the food supply through a federal commodities program that aids Food for Lane County. The sudden stoppage of SNAP benefits during the shutdown shined a light on the issue, they said. 

“Certainly this is not the end of the concern,” said Carolyn Stein, executive director of Food for Lane County, which distributes food to pantries and other providers throughout the region. “Just because SNAP is coming back doesn’t mean that people aren’t still hungry in Lane County. Hunger has been an ongoing emergency and crisis in our community for the past two years.”

Meeting demand 

Sales’ family is among those striving to make ends meet. Much of her family’s income goes toward formula and clothes for the children. As a family of four, she said, every bit makes a difference.

It’s why she waited an hour and a half at Catholic Community Services of Lane County in Springfield earlier this week, standing in line with others who also hadn’t received their benefits.

When the stoppage of SNAP benefits loomed, Catholic Community Services of Lane County started a $500,000 donation drive to raise more money for food boxes. 

The organization, which has pantries in Eugene and Springfield, says the demand for food has doubled since 2022, with more than 38,000 food boxes distributed in the last fiscal year. 

The drive will continue and those donations will allow distribution of an additional 43 food boxes on each day the pantry doors are open, said Lorri Perreault, the group’s executive director. 

“Food is so expensive,” Perreault said. “More people visiting us and our food supply for our food pantries has been declining.”

A ‘run’ on Lane County food pantries 

In Lane County, government officials recognize the needs remain high. County officials announced Friday they’re putting $100,000 in emergency reserves to aid food access through Food for Lane County. 

Separately, county officials are making another $100,000 available to aid families impacted by federal immigration activity, including separations, so they can get help with rent assistance, utilities and other needs. For information about how to apply for that emergency aid, people can call 541-393-4672 or email: LCHSInfo@LaneCountyOR.gov.

“There’s been a run on our food pantries locally,” Lane County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky said. “We have the holiday season coming up,” 

Mokrohisky said the food insecurity is happening against a broader backdrop of strained and eroded safety net services. Those include high housing costs, increased health care premiums and cuts to Medicaid.

It’s why pantries like the ones operated by Catholic Community Services and Food for Lane County have become such critical support for community members like Sales. She has felt grateful not only to have access to food for herself and her children, but to find options that were nutritious. 

“They had a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, or frozen fruit. Our two-year-old, she loves fruits,” Sales said.

Receiving her benefits Friday brought relief, but she worries about the reliability of SNAP and what inconsistent access means for her growing children, who need more food as their bodies develop. 

She said she constantly tries to balance healthy choices with making groceries last. And even with a full balance this month, she is already thinking about how to stretch every dollar. 

“Because of what we just went through, I’m not speaking just as our family, but as in everybody, is still on edge,” she said. “Anything can change again.”