CHARLOTTE — Mecklenburg County leaders announced a plan to support additional food resources during the pause of federal SNAP benefits Monday afternoon. Meanwhile, Down Home North Carolina-Cabarrus County held a news conference to talk about the impact the SNAP cuts has on residents.
Mecklenburg County assistance
Mecklenburg county plans to allocate $740,000 to support food resources for residents affected by the suspension of SNAP benefits due to the federal government shutdown, according to its news release.
County officials say they have coordinated with local community and food resource partners to provide relief to the approximately 138,500 SNAP participants in the area. This funding will enhance food pantry resources, distribute additional food boxes, and offer financial assistance through gift cards and vouchers.
To address the immediate needs of residents, Mecklenburg County says it is expanding food pantry resources and providing 28,000 additional 7-day food boxes through Nourish Up. The county is also securing more food to maximize the capacity of food pantries at Community Resource Centers.
Newly approved emergency SNAP recipients will receive $50 food-only gift cards, with about 400 cards distributed weekly. Additionally, special $50 farmers market vouchers will be available to eligible SNAP households, totaling approximately 2,000 vouchers.
The county is also expanding its community food distribution efforts, including mobile market food distribution for SNAP-eligible seniors and a holiday turkey distribution event at the Ella B. Scarborough Community Resource Center on November 22, expected to serve around 1,000 households.
To support local food pantries, food donation boxes will be set up at Park and Recreation and Charlotte Mecklenburg Library locations. An online portal for financial donations to benefit Nourish Up has also been made available.
The county says while it can’t fully replace the $24 million monthly SNAP benefits, these measures aim to relieve the burden for residents as they await a resolution at the federal level.
‘Back and forth’
Nonprofits in Cabarrus County are calling on elected officials to step in to fill the gap.
There are 25,000 people who rely on SNAP benefits in Cabarrus County, which is about 10% of the county’s population.
Cabarrus County hosted a news conference Monday at the government center.
Several speakers, including residents and members from Down Home North Carolina-Cabarrus County, talked about how the benefits have enabled them to go back to school, to get a better job, or feed their children.
Denicia Polite is one of them.
She is a 37-year-old mother of three who has been on SNAP for about a decade.
She works, but the pay is not consistent enough to support her family.
As leaders in Washington now figure out how to use emergency funding, she feels stuck in the middle.
“It’s not fair because we don’t understand what’s happening down here,” Polite said. “It’s more so like you said, back and forth, back and forth, but there’s people that’s suffering in the process. I know that we have means to do certain things, but it’s only for what they want to use it for. But right now, we’re suffering, and it’s not fair. Because our kids need, we need. We just want the help that they provide us.
Some of the speakers and organizers here planned to leave the protest and go to Monday night’s Cabarrus County Commission meeting.
They want to push local elected leaders for creative solutions to help fill this gap left by federal lawmakers.
Keeping SNAP afloat
Funding ran out over the weekend for the lifeline that helps put food on the table for some 42 million Americans, but a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to move money around to keep SNAP afloat.
That judge wrote the Department of Agriculture’s emergency funds, which the administration argued it couldn’t legally distribute, “must be used now because of the shutdown.”
The Trump administration announced Monday that it would meet the court orders by partially funding SNAP payments.
The judge acknowledged that money won’t cover the entire food program for the month of November. The Trump administration insists the quickest way to start money flowing to critical food assistance is to reopen the government.
VIDEO: Mecklenburg County prepares for SNAP uncertainty
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
