The leader of one of Oklahoma’s largest food banks says the state’s $7 million emergency funding amid the food stamp freeze is only a “drop in a bucket.”
The Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma provides food to more than 600 pantries and food programs across 24 counties. CEO Jeff Marlow says they’ll receive around $2.3 million of emergency funding, but it won’t go very far.
“We know that this is not going to fully support the need of food for the most vulnerable in our service area, and we as a food bank would never (be able to) do that,” Marlow said. “We’re thankful for the state funding, but it’s just a drop in a bucket, really, for what we need to do.”
The food bank’s portion is about $333,333 a week, but stretched across their 172,000 clients considered most vulnerable — including seniors, people with disabilities and households under the poverty line — Marlow says it only covers about $1.94 per person.
The food bank is working with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to understand the rules on how to spend the money and who they spend it on. Once that’s set in stone, Marlow expects those dollars will flow into the food bank’s account pretty quickly.
Right now, Marlow says, the food bank plans to use the money to supply food to their most vulnerable service areas, which are often rural locations outside of Tulsa County.
“Tulsa County is covered in the partnerships of the food bank,” Marlow said. “Tulsa County should feel really, really safe and really, really supported. It’s the rural areas … food deserts and food scarcity areas, that’s when you don’t see the outreaches as broad as you do in Tulsa.”
Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps, was suspended Nov. 1 due to what is now the longest government shutdown in history.
On Monday, the Trump administration agreed to provide partial funding for the program, but the president caused confusion when he walked that back on social media Tuesday. The White House has since clarified, saying partial funding is coming — though it could still be weeks before money is deposited on SNAP recipients’ EBT cards. Payments are expected to be half of what recipients typically get.
“At this time, Oklahoma Human Services is awaiting updated guidance from our federal partners at USDA,” said Carrie Snodgrass, spokeswoman for the state agency. “While we await further instruction, we remain focused on doing everything we can to preserve critical services and support for Oklahomans who rely on them.”
Follow the Flyer’s coverage on SNAP changes in Oklahoma, including a list of resources here.
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