By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
LACONIA – Courtney, 27, of Belmont is one of the 42 million Americans who are without normal SNAP benefits for November due to a federal government shutdown.
Holding her electronics benefit transfer card in one hand – which now has a balance of zero dollars – and with her driver’s license in the other, she sat in her Honda among hundreds who lined up in their vehicles five rows abreast at the Lakes Region Community College in Laconia parking lot Thursday to wait her turn at getting some of the state’s expanded food assistance in boxes loaded into cars.
Tuna, peanut butter, fresh apples and oranges, pasta and oatmeal were being loaded and Elsy Cipriani, executive director of the NH Food Bank which was doing the distribution, said the turnout was larger than the expected 450 to 500 households they thought would come and that they were trucking in more supplies for the SNAP specific food pick up.
She said on the first day Wednesday in Claremont the operation delivered enough food for 343 households and the effort moves south on Friday to Nashua which is not-SNAP specific.
Since a motorcycle crash in 2024 which shattered her pelvis and kept her out of work for an extended period, Courtney said she has relied on the federal program to help out at the grocery store and notes she was receiving $280 a month until the federal government closure ended those benefits.
“I still don’t work full time, just do part time jobs here and there and paint a lot so SNAP helps me every month with my food. I like to eat healthy,” she said.
“I knew the shutdown would affect me if it happened, yeah for sure, because food is expensive nowadays,” she said.
As she looked at boxes of food being placed in vehicle trunks in front of her, she said her anxiety issues have increased due to the shut down.
She said she worried about what she would be getting in the box from the $2 million state partnership with the NH Food Bank to help augment the SNAP losses at the grocery store.
“It looks like a lot of fruits and vegetables which is good,” she said.
The longer the federal government shutdown continues, she said, the more she becomes worried.
Behind her in line was a woman from Bristol who did not want to give her name.
She said she has two autistic children at home who only eat things like chicken nuggets and pizza, chocolate milk and water.
The SNAP card was something she said she could use at the grocery store to buy such items.
But now, she noted that was a luxury and food bank items are either going to be consumed or tossed depending on how she can make it into something they will eat.
While helping, she said she was not sure that the food being loaded into the cars in front of her would be consumed by her children, but she said she was hopeful.
The state’s SNAP specific food distribution program began Wednesday and a schedule for their stops is below.
Cipriani said “we don’t know how long this is going to go” and that this is a “temporary solution.”
She said there are also nine distribution points across the state which have been given more food through the state solution and they are available at various pantry locations.
Each box was good for a couple days worth of food.
The mobile pantry at LRCC was supposed to begin at 1 p.m. but by 12:30 p.m. with the parking lot fully loaded and cars beginning to line up on Belmont Road trying to enter the lot, the distribution began a bit early to get things moving.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits an estimated 76,000 Granite Staters. Since 1964 it has reliably been a staple for many who on average gets just under $200 a month on an electronic debit card which could be used at grocery stores.
But the government shutdown halted the Nov. 1 allocations and recipients were only left with what their balance from the month of October to use now.
A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump Administration to release reserve funds and it announced it would pay out half of the amount people normally receive and that implementation would take time.
Both the governor and Executive Council last week and the joint legislative fiscal committee agreed on a Department of Health and Human Services proposal to spend $2 million with the NH Food Bank to buy and distribute more food and go to more places where the most needy reside.
On the list of places this month where people can find such added help with these pickups are places like Colebrook, Haverhill, North Conway, Lebanon, Conway, Claremont, Concord, Manchester, Dover, Somersworth, Rochester, Portsmouth Raymond, Hampton, Seabrook, Nashua and Keene.
The state normally gets $12.6 million a month for SNAP benefits distribution.
HHS Commissioner Lori Weaver, noting this was not a one for one replacement for the SNAP program, said she felt that because of NH Food Bank’s buying power, it would be enough to get recipients through November.
Weaver also told Gov. Kelly Ayotte and the Republican controlled Executive Council which approved the funding, that the system is set up to be extended if needed if the shutdown goes into December.
About 26,000 of those in New Hampshire who receive SNAP benefits are children. Many who were in the line, however, were adults, many of whom were older.
Other safety net programs including free and reduced school lunch programs are continuing through the shut down for now and the low income heating program has funding through the end of the year, and a one month solution to fund the Women Infants and Children program was announced, Thursday.
WIC is used by 13,000 New Hampshire women, infants and children.
The state received additional federal funding for WIC Thursday which will keep food benefits and services at local agencies through at least the end of November, it announced.
Ayotte said she spoke directly with United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to advocate for New Hampshire to receive this critical funding.
“I’m pleased we were able to secure critical WIC funding through the end of the month to help moms and children in our state access food, formula, and other important needs,” she said.
“My office and DHHS are monitoring the status of partial payments for SNAP benefits and will work to ensure those payments are sent to Granite Staters as quickly as possible. In the meantime, Washington must get the federal government open so we have no further disruption to programs that serve our most vulnerable.”
“DHHS remains committed to finding ways to keep WIC benefits and services available without interruption for as long as possible to help pregnant women, new mothers, and young children across the state,” said Weaver. “This additional funding will ensure New Hampshire WIC families have continued access to food benefits and the dedicated staff at local agencies who connect participants with vital WIC services and resources.”
DHHS support for WIC services at local agencies, including nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to community resources, will also continue through at least the end of November.
Below is a listing of SNAP-only mobile food pantries and food box pick-up sites. Locations are subject to change.
CORRECTION: This story mistakenly said the event was at NHTI when it was in fact at Lakes Region Community College.
Lakes Region
Mobile Food Pantry Locations
Plymouth: Tenney Mountain, 151 Tenney Mountain Road | Wednesday, November 26, 10:00 AM-3:00 PM
Merrimack Valley Region
Mobile Food Pantry Locations
Concord: NH Technical Institute, 31 College Drive | Thursday, November 20, 1:00-6:00 PM
Manchester: Comcast, 676 Island Pond Road | Thursday, November 13, 1:00-6:00 PM
Food Box Pick-up Locations
Concord: Christ the King Church, 67 South State Street | Saturdays, 9:00-11:00 AM
Manchester: Families in Transition Food Pantry, 176 Lake Avenue
Mondays: 1:00-4:00 PM
Tuesdays: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
Wednesdays: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
Thursdays: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
Fridays: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
Nashua: Nashua Soup Kitchen, 2 Quincy Street | Tuesdays, 11:00 AM-3:00 PM
Monadnock Region
Mobile Food Pantry Locations
Keene: Keene Department of Public Works (in partnership with Keene Community Kitchen), 330 Marlborough Street
Saturday, November 8, 9:00 AM-noon
Saturday, November 15, 9:00 AM-noon
Saturday, November 22, 9:00 AM-noon
Saturday, November 29, 9:00 AM-noon
North Country Region
Mobile Food Pantry Locations
Conway: Ham Ice Arena, 87 West Main Street | Wednesday, November 19, 10:00 AM-3:00 PM
Woodsville: Walmart, 4901 Dartmouth College Highway | Wednesday, November 12, 10:00 AM-3:00 PM
Food Box Pick-up Locations
Berlin: NH Food Bank Warehouse, 92 Jericho Road | Fridays, 8:00 AM-4:00 PM
Colebrook: North Country Missions, 16 Hill Avenue | Tuesdays, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM and Thursdays, 12:00-4:00 PM
North Conway: Vaughan Food Pantry, 2503 White Mountain Highway | Tuesdays, 11:30 AM-1:45 PM and Thursdays, 12:30-2:45 PM
Seacoast Region
Mobile Food Pantry Locations (in partnership with Gather)
Dover: Whittier Falls, 50 Whittier Street
Tuesday, November 4, 1:00-3:00 PM
Tuesday, November 18, 1:00-3:00 PM
Hampton: Municipal Lot, 30 High Street
Thursday, November 6, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM
Thursday, November 13, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM
Portsmouth: Gosling Meadows, 36 Wedgewood Road
Wednesday, November 5, 2:00-3:30 PM
Wednesday, November 12, 2:00-3:30 PM
Wednesday, November 19, 2:00-3:30 PM
Wednesday, November 26, 12:30-2:00 PM
Raymond: Lamprey Health Center, 128 NH-27, Tuesday, November 25, 1:00-2:00 PM
Rochester: Grace Church, 57 Wakefield Street, Tuesday, November 25, noon-3:00 PM
Seabrook
Seabrook RVA, 117 Cimarron Drive, Thursday, November 6, 1:00-3:00 PM
Seabrook Recreation, 311 Lafayette Road, Thursday, November 13, 1:00-3:00 PM
Somersworth: Tucker’s Parking Lot, 250 Indian Brook Drive, Friday, November 14, 11:00 AM-noon
Upper Valley Region
Mobile Food Pantry Locations
Claremont: Runnings, 403 Washington Street | Wednesday, November 5, 10:00 AM-3:00 PM
Food Box Pick-up Locations
Claremont: Claremont Food pantry, 51 Central Street
Mondays, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Tuesdays, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Wednesdays, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Thursdays, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Fridays, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Lebanon: Listen Food Pantry, 60 Hanover Street
Mondays: Noon-4:00 PM
Tuesdays: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
Wednesdays: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
Thursdays: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
Fridays: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
The Department will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available. For the latest updates on WIC and SNAP during the federal shutdown, please visit dhhs.nh.gov/federalshutdown.