Late in the afternoon this past Monday, on a day it’s not typically open, the smell of freshly cooked chicken wafted through the dining room of Timberwolves Restaurant in Mars Hill.
Inside a stack of takeout containers piled two high on a folding table were chicken dinners, available for free, no questions asked, to anyone facing food insecurity. In November, that population is expected to be high.
More than 170,000 Mainers and around 20% of Aroostook County residents will be without the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits that they rely on to buy groceries in November as the federal government shutdown drags into a second month. SNAP funding has never lapsed before. This situation presents a new set of challenges for an already vulnerable population.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said in memos that it can’t use contingency funds to cover the benefits, creating a demand so great that Aroostook’s food banks and their partner food pantries — despite their best efforts — have said they will not fully be able to meet.
In their stead, businesses, individuals and restaurants like Timberwolves have stepped forward to help.
“We care about the community and we want to give back,” said Chandler Dixon, the restaurant’s operations manager. “Just knowing that the people that rely on those benefits, that there’s a real need, so they’re probably going to go without a meal.”
Timberwolves expects to offer free meals in this manner once weekly as the program’s funding lapses. And it’s not the only one doing so.
The County Co-op and Farm Store on Main Street in downtown Houlton will offer free homemade soups and bread from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays for anybody who needs them during the month of November.
County Bagel Co., part of Perham’s Parker Farms, is offering a free six-pack of their New York style bagels each week to families in need until the shutdown ends.
“Giving back isn’t something we do just in hard times — it’s part of who we are,” owner Brandon Parker said. “The community here has helped build both our farm and County Bagel Co., and we’re grateful for the chance to return that kindness by providing breakfast — the most important meal of the day — to those who need it most.”
Others, like Mama Lou’s Convenience Store in Masardis, are collecting donations to support families missing benefits. The store has also offered its own hot food to those in need.
“Collectively we have helped one family of five,” the business wrote in an Oct. 27 Facebook post.
“Masardis will not starve,” a commenter responded.
Fort Fairfield’s MSAD 20 is holding a food drive. Framework Church in Presque Isle is hosting free hot lunches each Sunday in November. These examples are a microcosm of statewide efforts to stave off the food insecurity the shutdown will cause.
Nearly 60,000 children and more than 40,000 older adults receive SNAP benefits monthly, according to a lawsuit filed against the federal government Tuesday by more than 25 states.
At the state level, Gov. Janet Mills allocated $1.25 million Wednesday from the governor’s contingency account and the John T. Gorman Foundation toward anti-hunger initiatives, primarily through Good Shepherd Food Bank and the AgeWise Maine, the association that oversees Maine’s Area Agencies on Aging.
But legislators and advocacy groups are asking for more. State Sen. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, sent a letter Wednesday calling on the governor to call a special session of the legislature to allocate as much funding as possible to stopgap the $29 million in federal benefits Mainers will not receive.
“Food is life. Everybody who wants to live needs to eat,” the letter reads. “If we are going to end hunger in Maine by 2030, we must address this emergency situation yesterday.”
In the meantime, local businesses and individuals are doing what they can to keep their communities fed.
“When we heard that families were losing access to SNAP and EBT benefits, we knew we couldn’t just stand by,” Parker said.
