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Kudos to the nonprofits, foundations, donors and city officials who have come together to help fund hunger assistance for people in central Indiana whose federal food benefits ended on Nov. 1 in the fallout of the government shutdown.
The Indianapolis Foundation, Lilly Endowment Inc. and the Eli Lilly and Co. Foundation matched a $500,000 anonymous donation to set up the Central Indiana Food Relief Fund. The effort will send money to Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, Midwest Food Bank of Indiana and Second Helpings, which will use it to supply food to individuals and other hunger organizations.
Additionally, Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration announced it would contribute $100,000 in unspent funds from its Office of Public Health and Safety toward food efforts across the city, including expanded food outreach. And Cummins Inc. and Indiana University Health matched that amount, bringing the total to $200,000.
And on Thursday, The Duke Energy Foundation announced it had provided $207,000 in grants to Indiana organizations to help with hunger relief.
“Food is not a privilege. It’s a basic human right,” United Way of Central Indiana CEO Fred Payne said last week when announcing the Central Indiana Food Relief Fund. “United Way is proud to stand alongside its partners and other funders to respond to this critical need and help hard-working families put food on the table.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture continued to provide Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for several weeks after the shutdown started on Oct. 1. But agency officials announced that would end on Nov. 1, which left some 570,000 Hoosiers—including about 150,000 residents across seven counties in central Indiana—without the aid that helps them buy groceries.
Two federal judges then ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to restart the program. And the Trump administration announced it would restart benefits by using money in an agency contingency fund. But officials said recipients will receive only about half the amount they normally do, later upping that amount to two-thirds after saying they’d made a mistake.
On Thursday, another federal judge ordered the Trump administration to pay 100% of the benefits, although the Justice Department immediately announced it would appeal.
Regardless, it’s not clear when any benefits would restart.
NPR reported that the Trump administration said it anticipates delays before SNAP recipients receive benefits. And on Wednesday, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration said that benefits—which flow through state government—will be at least one week late and maybe more for Indiana recipients.
“We understand the urgency of this situation and are working swiftly to complete the recalculations and resume benefit issuance as soon as possible,” the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration said in a statement.
But the delay and the reduced benefits—not to mention the 24,000 federal workers in Indiana who are going without paychecks—mean there will be families who need help.
We’re proud to live in a community where the business, philanthropic and nonprofit communities have joined forces to step in. And we appreciate that the Hogsett administration has found ways to help, too.
Now we urge congressional leaders and the Trump administration to figure out how to end the shutdown and put thousands of Hoosiers back to work.•
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