Noxubee County natives give back during SNAP pause
MACON, Miss. (WCBI) – On Saturday, around 360,000 Mississippians were affected by the halt to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
As SNAP benefits come to a pause, it’s getting hard for residents to buy groceries and provide for their households.
“It’s sort of sad that the people are getting food taken away from their homes. It’s really sad,” said Glenda Harlan, a SNAP and Medicare recipient.
Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture said no benefits would be issued on Saturday, November 1.
It’s more fallout from the government shutdown.
On Sunday, November 2nd, a Noxubee County Mother-daughter duo stepped in to help fill the gap.
“My mom and I were looking for a way to give back to the community to help those during a rough time. And we just kind of jumped into action and thought what can we do to help kind of offset and alleviate some of those burdens people in our community are experiencing,” said Natalie Lowry, Noxubee County native and co-organizer of the event.
In just a few days, the team bought groceries to fill 30 boxes with non-perishable goods to give away to the community.
The food distribution aimed to help those who rely on government assistance.
“I’m on a fixed income and it’s very inspirational. It really (has) an impact on our communities. It helps with our necessities and items of food that we need,” Gladys Bryant, Medicaid recipient.
“It is a blessing that we have people in the community that’s concerned about the people that’s on welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps,” said Harlan.
The event started at 3 p.m. on Sunday, but people started lining up as early as 1 p.m. outside the Macon business on KFC road.
Sticking to their start time — in just 30 minutes, boxes ran out.
“It really exceeded my expectation. I’m very, very happy that people weren’t ashamed or embarrassed and that they accepted the help. I’m just thrilled that people showed up,” said Lowry.
They also gave out fresh meat like ground beef and pork.
Close to 50 people were served at the give-away.
Residents say they’re keeping the faith in spite of the circumstances.
Lowry says they plan host another food giveaway in the future.
