NORFOLK, Va. - Come March, thousands of families in Virginia and North Carolina are going to have less money to feed their families.
This is going to impact anyone who gets help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP.
According to the Virginia Department of Social Services, benefits are going to drop close to $100 a person, which means some people could have to cut a couple hundred dollars from their monthly grocery budget. This is happening because another pandemic-era benefit is ending.
Families and individuals first started getting the emergency benefits, an additional $95, when the pandemic started in March 2020.
Three years later and households will have to go back to what they were getting before, which could be as little as $23, depending on circumstance.
Keep in mind, this is all happening as inflation continues to raise the cost of groceries.
David Brandt, Senior Director of Communications at Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia & Eastern Shore said this could have an impact on who may need their services.
"When you're talking about someone who's on a very limited budget and they are losing up to $95 a month, almost $100 a month out of their food budget, that's significant, you know? So we do expect demand will increase. How much - we really don't know, but we're going to monitor it closely and then we'll pivot accordingly and try to meet the need," Brandt said.
The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore does everything from mobile food pantries to massive food drives.
According to the Virginia Department of Social Services, the benefits will end Thursday February 16, 2023 and people will start getting their pre-pandemic allotment in March.
Local food banks are on standby to help:
