RICHMOND — Building on a temporary state-level version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) announced last week, state agencies are collaborating on a food drive effort to further bolster food-insecure communities around Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday morning.
Dubbed the Virginia Cares Initiative, people are encouraged to sign up to donate food and money to the state’s regional food banks. Participants will then receive a list of high-demand food items, drop off locations and hours of operation for the banks.
Director of the Federation of Virginia Food Banks Eddie Oliver thanked Youngkin for spearheading support efforts at the state level and emphasized how Virginia’s food banks and a “network of 1,150 pantry partners are facing a perfect storm of challenges.”
“We know there are still thousands of families, including federal workers and newly eligible Virginians, who are struggling to make ends meet as the Democrat Shutdown continues,” Youngkin said. “The Virginia Cares Initiative ensures that our communities can step forward to bridge that gap, especially as we approach Thanksgiving.”
With the federal government paused since the start of October due to a congressional impasse on funding bills, SNAP beneficiaries and furloughed federal workers have gone without payments that they rely on. SNAP supports low-income families and people who cannot work so that they can purchase groceries.
Partisanship has flared anew as Republicans like Youngkin have blamed Democrats for the shutdown because they’ve sought extensions of Affordable Care Act subsidies. Democrats have pointed out that Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House, and that the steep spending cuts that have gummed up negotiations emanate from the GOP. The U.S. Senate has continued to meet yet they’ve failed to agree on resolutions, while the U.S. House has not gaveled in since September.
A coalition of Democrat-led states successfully sued President Donald Trump’s administration, with a judge ordering that earmarked contingency funds be disbursed to states for SNAP. The United States Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, will now be compelled to release the funding.
But a Tuesday morning social media post from Trump indicates that states shouldn’t expect SNAP funds as long as the government is shut down — despite the court ruling that his administration must pay using at least some of the USDA contingency funds.
“There are no words. Hungry kids are not a bargaining chip. Choosing to let millions go hungry is unspeakably cruel,” Virginia U.S. Senator Mark Warner said on X in response to Trump’s post.
Hours after Trump’s post in defiance of the court order, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said at a press conference that the administration will comply.
“The administration is fully complying with the court order, I just spoke to the president about it,” she said. “The recipients of these SNAP benefits need to understand it’s going to take some time to receive this money because the Democrats have forced the administration into a very untenable position.”
The Mercury had reached out to the White House Monday morning asking for details on when states might expect some funding but did not receive a response by Tuesday afternoon.
In the meantime, the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance (VENA) disbursed the first wave of money to recipients this past Monday.
Announced last week by Youngkin and modeled after SNAP, it will roll out benefits in waves — the second wave will hit Wednesday and the third wave on Friday. Unlike SNAP, which awards beneficiaries once a month, VENA will provide smaller weekly payments through the end of November using an estimated $37.5 million of the state’s budget surplus per week to aid Virginia’s roughly 850,000 eligible recipients.
“We will continue to distribute funds as scheduled to ensure Virginians in need don’t go hungry,” Youngkin spokesperson Peter Finocchio said in an email Tuesday. “We continue to work closely with our federal partners and will provide updates as federal guidance changes. The Governor’s priority remains ensuring that all eligible individuals and families continue to have immediate access to food support.”
Click here for more information on how to get involved with the Virginia Cares Initiative.
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