FOX 5 NY, Stephanie Bertini, reports on Masbia’s chop and pack event at Congregation Orach Chaim to prepare soup kitchen meals.

ABC7NY reports on Masbia’s chop and pack event at Congregation Orach Chaim to prepare soup kitchen meals.

WNYC’s Catalina Gonella spoke to Masbia’s ED Alexander Rapaport at the Cong Orach Chaim Chop & Pack.

 

The Gothamist, Ramsey Khalifeh and Catalina Gonella, reporting on Masbia prepping meals with volunteers at Orach Chaim during the SNAP crisis.

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New York has begun sending out full federal food assistance benefits Sunday, despite an overnight order from the Trump administration that called for states to “immediately undo” payments.

It is the latest turn in an ongoing battle over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program funding as the federal government shutdown persists, leaving nearly three million New Yorkers that rely on food assistance in limbo. The program, commonly known as “food stamps,” provides families with money to buy groceries.

On Sunday morning, Gov. Kathy Hochul said on social media that, “While Donald Trump has fought relentlessly to keep food off New Yorkers’ tables, families who rely on SNAP can finally breathe a sigh of relief as benefits begin to arrive.”

SNAP is funded by the federal government but states oversee the administration of the benefits, which are typically issued on an Electronic Benefit Transfer debit card.

The Trump administration issued a memo Saturday evening ordering states to reverse any steps taken to send out full SNAP benefits to low-income families or risk the cancellation of administrative funding. According to the memorandum sent by the Deputy Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Patrick A. Penn, states “must not transmit full benefit issuance files to EBT processors” and instead only process the issuances at 65%.

The federal memo followed a move by the Supreme Court on Friday to temporarily put on hold a decision made by a lower court judge to issue full SNAP benefits for the month of November.

Hochul’s office said Sunday that it has received the memo from the federal government, but did not comment on how it would respond. Spokesperson Emma Wallner confirmed that New Yorkers are beginning to receive their November benefits through federal funds.

New Jersey officials have said full November SNAP funding had already been released to the state’s 800,000 recipients before the Supreme Court’s order.

Maggie Garbarino, a spokesperson for NJ Gov. Phil Murphy, said the state continues to closely monitor developments and would provide updates on the state’s SNAP website.

“Washington Republicans’ determination to starve American citizens during this government shutdown is shameful. We hope that a fair resolution to this unnecessary, unprecedented problem is reached soon and federal funding for SNAP and other lapsed programs is backfilled,” Garbarino said.

The uncertainty about what would happen to SNAP benefits this month has made some New Yorkers in need of federal food assistance worry about their abilities to put food on the table.

Michael Paul is part of a mutual aid group called Anarchy99 that is set up on the corner of East Ninth Street and First Avenue, giving away food, hygiene products and clothes.

He said hasn’t received his SNAP benefits or any information about when he will get them. He usually gets $296 on the fifth of each month and is down to 25 cents.

Paul said he doesn’t trust the government to keep its word. Instead, he is relying on community resources to eat.

“I have nothing,” he said. “I got no contact at all so I’m not believing anything until it’s on my phone saying I got it on my card.”

Local food kitchens and community centers have responded to the call by stepping up their food assistance programs.

The basement of Congregation Orach Chaim — a synagogue on the Upper East Side — was packed with families Sunday morning, chopping and packing up zucchini and carrots, prepping them to be cooked at various soup kitchens.

Alexander Rapaport with Masbia Soup Kitchen Network said there has been higher demand at their locations in recent weeks. Usually there are 200 slots a day at each of their pantry locations for grocery pick ups, but those were getting filled immediately, prompting them to open up 250 slots.

He said while donations have been high, its email messaging to their tens of thousands of donors has been challenging due to the constant change in status of SNAP benefits.

“We don’t know,” Rapaport said. “By the time we finish writing the email, the narrative might even change. ‘Oh it’s going to be half the benefits, not fully’ and then nothing, then everything … It’s hard on the messaging. What is really happening here?”

To read the original story, click here.

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See below some photos from the Chop and Pack event.