If you’re unable to see the above video, it’s available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/RjbZqPQ2-4Q.
Resource links mentioned:
- RI Department of Human Services: https://snapsupport.ri.gov/
- RI Community Food Bank: https://rifoodbank.org/donate/
- Feed RI: https://feedri.org/contribute/
- United Way of RI: https://www.unitedwayri.org
- Farm Fresh RI Thanksgiving Boxes: https://www.farmfreshri.org/thanksgiving-2025/
- RI Foundation: http://rifoundation.org/food
Update posted a day after the original video:
Transcript (minus Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee’s press conference clips:
I wanted to take a few moments to try and get as much info about the SNAP shutdown that will begin on November 1st. I’ve got some clips from Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee’s conference in this video and I hope you take some time to watch and share this, and spread the facts as much as possible.
First off the data, because the numbers are important and aren’t always reported correctly. There are almost 143,000 people in Rhode Island that use SNAP, what used to be called food stamps, to purchase groceries, averaging about $7 a day usage which is almost one million dollars a day, for a rough total of $29 million dollars a month. That’s in Rhode Island alone, and we’re far from the largest usage in the states. So if you’re watching this outside RI, the situation could be a lot more dire.
The governor of Rhode Island, and several other states, has declared a state of emergency which allows them to use state funds to cover this gap. Unfortunately, the money the state has to use is WAY less than $29 million. Rhode Island is drawing $6 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to put onto SNAP EBT cards, it’s like a debit card for your SNAP benefit. Since this is a fund for families it means you have to have children to receive the money and according to the budget office that will cover about 65,000 people, clearly leaving almost 80,000 people in Rhode Island without any funds on their EBT card to buy groceries with on November 1. Yes, if you have an EBT card with money left over from October you keep that on your card, but I can’t imagine that will be much for most people.
The Rhode Island Foundation and other organizations are going to also give to this temporary assistance, but let’s be honest, it’s not going to cover the $23 million dollar gap. Which means those 80,000 people are going to have to find another way to get food, more than likely at their local food pantry or kitchen where they don’t have any choices on what they can eat, but have to accept what’s there or starve.
So what can you do? First off I want to be very clear, food drives are great. It is so heartwarming to see all the people on my feeds organizing food collections and pantries and giving away prepared food and non-perishables. I would never discourage that, but I want to share what I’ve learned over the years participating in fundraisers for the RI Community Food Bank and similar organizations like Feed RI.
They’ll take your packaged food, any donation is a valuable donation, but the most important thing you can donate is money. Any money you donate to a food bank can practically be doubled, or more. Food banks have purchasing power because they buy things in large quantities. So that $1 box of pasta you donate is one box, but give that $1 to the food bank and they can buy 2 or 3 or maybe 4 boxes because they purchase in bulk. So if you go to the store and think, I’m going to buy $50 in canned goods and take it to the food bank, again, that is great and always appreciated, but if you gave that $50 in cash to a food bank they can probably buy $100 or more in food.
Again food drives are wonderful, don’t stop, but if you have the means to donate cash, that’s the best solution. Let’s not forget that the RI Community Food Bank provides data that 38% of Rhode Islanders are food insecure. That’s atrociously terrible to hear on a so-called normal day. So donate if you’re able.
Lastly, a note on how we got here. It’s almost impossible to discuss most programs these days without bringing up politics and unfortunately this is true here too. Contrary to some comments, the government shutdown by Congress is not to blame for this SNAP shutdown situation. Yes, it’s a factor, but it’s not the reason 143,000 people in Rhode Island and millions more around the country are going to suffer.
When the government is shut down, the US Dept. of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, has a reserve that can be used to keep the program going. All that needs to be done to allow these reserves to be used is for the chief executive, in this case President Trump, to authorize it. Simple executive order, yes I authorize these funds being used. The Trump administration has decided they will not authorize the money. That’s it, plain and simple.
Yes, Congress is responsible for triggering this, but it’s the President that decided not to let states have SNAP benefit money. Money, by the way, that we all put into the funds to begin with by paying federal taxes. This is US taxpayer money that the USDA holds to cover SNAP for the states and the money is not being allowed into the states. I’m trying not to offer an opinion on that, but I think you know my opinion.
Thank you for watching and listening. I hope this was helpful and please share if you see fit. Please be kind to one another. Take care.
