REDMOND, OR -- Local food banks are concerned about Tuesday’s expiration of the Emergency Allotment  for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Congress enacted the extra food stamp benefits at the start of the pandemic.

Even with that extra grocery money, NeighborImpact’s executive director Scott Cooper tells KBND News the non-profit has struggled to keep up with food needs, “Some of our partners are reporting that they’ve seen double the requests in the last month and the SNAP benefits haven’t even ended yet. So, we think there’s around 35,000 people that are going to be affected by the elimination of some of their benefits. Some will see an average cut of around 250 dollars. That’s a big loss in buying power. Cost of groceries and everything else is going up. So, we are thinking there will be a lot of interest in getting even more food out of food banks that aren’t prepared to get more.”

Since the pandemic began, NeighborImpact has seen the number of people requesting food go from 16,000 in 2020, to 60,000 last year.

NeighborImpact Food Director Carly Auten says local food banks have seen an uptick in requests when other government food programs ended, “With food prices inflated in the last year and a half or so, people are already wondering how they’re going to buy food.”

In order to meet demand, NeighborImpact is stocking up from local grocery stores, receiving shipments from the Oregon Food Bank, and holding community fundraisers and food drives.

Cooper thinks the state could do more to help, “Food is foundational to anti-poverty work. Why there’s not more of a response from state officials to try to overcome this is a little curious to me.”