With the partial shutdown of the United States' federal government dragging on after more than a month, millions of Americans who rely on SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) to buy groceries fear becoming food-insecure. And food banks are feeling overwhelmed as they struggle to help out.
MSNBC's Ana Cabrera has been doing a series of interviews with struggling Americans who use SNAP benefits, which were known as "food stamps" in the past. On Monday morning, November 3, Cabrera interviewed Danielle Rodriguez, a single mother in Pennsylvania who now finds herself without the $400 per month in food assistance she uses to feed her two kids.
Asked if she received "any SNAP funds for November?," Rodriguez told Cabrera, "No, I did not receive any benefits at all…. And they said there is no promise of even getting any type of benefits for November."
Rodriguez explained, "Unfortunately, I've had to reach out to my utility companies and stuff like that to go on payments to use some of my bill money to buy groceries for me and my kids….. It's very stressful being a single mom of two kids. I have a nine-year-old, and she is offering her piggybank money. And she's like, 'Mommy, do you want my piggybank money to help with groceries?' And it's sad to hear my child say that to me because I'm Mom — I'm supposed to do everything. I'm supposed to be their protector."
Rodriguez continued, "And I will make it happen. But it's just it's heartbreaking to hear that, you know, all these little faces are looking at their parents so stressed out, like, how are mommy and daddy going to, you know, make ends meet? And that should be the least of their worries."
The Pennsylvania resident noted that she now has to "budget even more than I already budget."
Rodriguez told Cabrera, "We just have to like cut back a little bit. But we will have food; if that means I've got to go stand in lines at food banks, then I will. Like I was saying, I have a nine-year-old, but I also have a 14-month-old who just, you know, just got off formula — and now, she eats regular table food. And so, it's portioning out everything to make it stretch further….. But I just tell her just, you know, this is, unfortunately, how life is…. What's going on is our legislators need to look at the little faces of these kids and understand, OK, we really need to push and fight more for the children."