Emergency food distribution available to those affected by cuts to SNAP benefits

ROCHESTER, N.Y. Extra federal SNAP benefits made available during the Covid pandemic to support those in need of food came to an end this month.

This cut is being felt by tens of thousands of households right here in Monroe County. News10NBC found out how Foodlink and its many partners are trying to fill the gap.

Starting Friday until the end of the month, Foodlink will host five pre-registration food distribution events at different sites in Rochester. One by one families being affected by the cut in SNAP benefits arrived at Foodlink’s Mount Read Boulevard facility to collect their bundle of food.

The emergency SNAP benefits ended March 1. Foodlink’s Communications Manager Mark Dwyer says about 100,000 people in the county are seeing a drastic reduction in their SNAP benefits. Many of them lost up to $200, which is now being cut from their monthly budget. 

Dwyer says this is not the first time Foodlink has distributed food to the hungry, but time is running out if you would like to take advantage of this month’s distribution.

“It’s a nice array of proteins, fruits, veggies, dairy,” said Dwyer. “We’ve got around me a lot of fresh produce going out today. At the end of the day usually these distributions yield about 50 pounds of food. Several boxes of food, several bags of food that are going into someone’s car and then back home to their families.”

He went on to say there are still some slots available to register for food. Click on the links below for registration information, location, and times of the upcoming distribution events.

Foodlink: https://foodlinkny.org/
Monroe County SNAP benefits: https://www.monroecounty.gov/snap-2023