Metro United Way Launches Emergency Food Response as SNAP Funding Cuts Threaten More than 50,000 Households in the Greater Louisville Region

Beginning tomorrow, November 1, recipients expecting their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits face grave uncertainty. More than 60,000 households in Metro United Way’s service area –  Clark, Floyd, and Harrison counties in Indiana and Jefferson, Bullitt, Oldham, and Shelby counties in Kentucky – rely on these critical benefits to provide sustenance for themselves and their families. 79% of SNAP households include either a child, an elderly individual, or a non-elderly individual with a disability. As households deal with the potential absence or reduction of these critical food supports, families face an already growing risk of hunger, and food banks are experiencing overwhelming demand they cannot meet on their own.

On Oct. 31, Metro United Way announced the launch of the “Hardship to Hope Food Relief Fund” that will provide Kroger gift cards of varying amounts directly to SNAP recipients that have at least one child under 18 in the home or an elderly individual.

Metro United Way has started this fund with a $500,000 investment to meet the basic needs of their neighbors and have early commitments to this fund from many community and corporate partners including Thanks to early commitments from IPA member the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County, as well as GE Appliances, LG&E and KU Foundation, Republic Bank Foundation, and The UPS Foundation.

“We know that this fund provides temporary relief and is not a long-term solution, but help is needed now,” said Adria Johnson, president and CEO of Metro United Way. “To feed our neighbors receiving SNAP in our 7-county region for just one month would require more than $21.8 million. That’s why we are asking our business and philanthropy friends to help. Thanks to those that have stepped up so far.”

To donate to the Hardship to Hope Relief Fund, visit metrounitedway.org/relief-fund.

In addition to this fund, other critical efforts are being organized in community to address this crisis. Several labor union partners are holding food drives where anyone in our region can drop off non-perishable items that will go directly to SNAP recipients, especially those that are union members. Metro United Way has created a community resources page where individuals can seek help, donate to the new fund, or also find places to donate food around the region. This page will be updated regularly: https://metrounitedway.org/community-food-resources/

“This is a food emergency in real time, affecting many of our residents,” said Troy Burden, Executive Director of Highland Community Ministries. “No person should be hungry in any city or neighborhood in Louisville and surrounding counties.”

To volunteer to help, please visit Metro United Way’s volunteer connection site at metrounitedway.org/volunteer to help organizations that fight food insecurity every day.

If federal funds become available and full SNAP benefits are reinstated, any remaining donated funds not used will support Metro United Way’s food insecurity initiatives across in Southern Indiana and the Greater Louisville region.