Food insecurity spikes in county
For six weeks, Amanda Nagle said she and her family did not know how they were going to put food on the table.
“May was really hard. We were struggling real bad,” Nagle said. “I had to ask around for help to get some food in the house.”
The family of four had $516 worth of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which can be used only to purchase qualified food, to stretch for 42 days.
Earlier this year, that dollar amount would have been higher, but SNAP’s emergency allotments, which were added during the COVID-19 pandemic to combat food insecurity and provide economic stimulus — ended after February 2023.
This change, coupled with rising inflation, has increasingly more Butler County families turning to food pantries for support.
Community Partnership, which manages the Butler County Food Bank, reported that its allotments increased drastically since March. In February, the food bank served 3,251 people. In March, that number nearly doubled to 6,108.
In May, Community Partnership supplied 9,159 people with food, nearly tripling the amount in three months.
The increase aligns with the ending of expanded SNAP benefits in February, but is not the only reason for the increase in families reaching out for help, according to Sandra Curry, executive director of Community Partnership.
“It’s a combination,” Curry said. “SNAP benefits are a 100% a part of that, but there’s also the continued inflation. With food prices continuing to rise, it’s making it harder for not only folks at the bottom but folks in the middle, too.”
The nonprofit, Community Partnership, oversees the distribution of food allotments to 32 pantries across the county.
Residents receive between 30 and 50 pounds of fresh produce, meat, dairy and other products monthly.
“We’re running about 3,000-square feet,” Curry said. “And we’re out of space.”
The situation could worsen if food prices continue to trend upwards. Inflation has caused food prices to increase 6.7% in the past year, according to a May report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
One of the food bank’s 32 pantries, Allison Park Church held a mobile food distribution Thursday, dropping off nearly 100 pounds of food to families in the Butler city area.
The pantry does this biweekly.
Nagle, who receives food from Allison Park Church, said her fiancé, who just started a new job in May, did not receive his first paycheck for a month and a half due to a clerical error at his new place of employment.
Things got so drastic, the couple had to send their 11-year-old daughter to a friend’s house for a few meals. Nagle refers to that time as “debilitating.”
“I’m a protector,” said Nagle, who has two children, ages 9 and 11. “I had to make sure my daughters came first.”
Another woman who benefits from the mobile distribution is Amanda Frank.
“Between all the utilities, and the house, and then the raising (prices) of food, it’s hard to afford anything anymore,” Frank said. “Everything costs an arm and a leg.”
Frank receives $128 in monthly SNAP benefits for her and her 3-year-old grandson.
“It’s all I get, because they say I make too much,” Frank said.
Frank said she makes around $1,200 monthly from her house cleaning job.
“I was getting $198 (in SNAP benefits), and then we just did our renewal,” Frank said. “And since I made more in the last four weeks in the renewal period, they (reduced) my food stamps.”
After the adjustment of benefits, Frank saw her hours decrease due to the end of the “busy season,” leaving her with both fewer benefits and fewer work hours.
The initiative, which was started by Robin Pikur in summer 2020, created the mobile distribution program as a way to help families that have issues with transportation receive food.
What started out as helping 20 families has “grown exponentially” since the beginning of the year, Pikur said.
“I was anticipating a growing need,” Pikur said. "I was not anticipating it would be at this level. It’s shocking to me and makes me more aware of the need that is out there.“
According to Pikur, since last May the number of families served by the church grew from around 90 to more than 160, with a majority of that increase occurring immediately after SNAP benefits were reduced in February.
The increase in families requesting help has presented Pikur with challenges — from finding manpower to being able to navigate the economical impact it’s having on the mobile distribution center.
“My challenges are being able to find volunteers who are suitable people to work for the program,” Pikur said. “We need to find people who have available time.”
A typical delivery day can take up to 13 hours — from packaging to delivering food to families.
Frank, who was diagnosed with lupus, says toward the end of the month she goes hungry a couple of nights during the week.
“I’ll go to work and grab a bagel or just a snack,” Frank said. “And that will be it for the day.”
