LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's November 1, when almost 500,000 Nevada families would usually start to receive their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the month to help buy groceries and put food on the table. But now, so many more people are wondering where their next meal will come from.
WATCH | Las Vegas comes together to distribute food at UNLV
When people need help, the Las Vegas community steps up — Saturday morning was no different, as nearly 250 volunteers came together in the parking lot of the Thomas & Mack Center on UNLV's campus to help Three Square Food Bank hand out thousands of pounds of food to upwards of a thousand families during the federal government shutdown.
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"Whenever Vegas comes together we do really amazing things, and today is just another example of how we're able to do that," said volunteer Tracy Malone. "That's what Vegas is — we're Vegas strong."
"It's really special to be here today, and to reach this many people in such a small amount of time," volunteer Crystal Omalza said. "I think we take for granted a lot of things that we do have, and then to see this amount of people come out that rely on this food, they can't get their food stamps and they turn to the food banks, and thankfully our food banks are able to supply them with food."
But even before the shutdown over a month ago, Three Square President Beth Martino says they saw a 16% spike in the number of people Three Square served over the past four months.
"Now that need has been skyrocketing in the month of October, adding to that the number of people that are affected by the SNAP pause," Martino said. "We have literally tens of thousands of people that don't know where their next meal is coming from, so it's been a challenge all over our community."
For local families the economic uncertainty of the federal government shutdown continues, despite the recent court ruling ordering the USDA to fund SNAP.
"People have to feed their families today, they have to feed their families this week – the court ruling is certainly encouraging, but we know that the federal government has until Monday to respond, and people have a need that has to be met right now," Martino said.
Martino says a lot of those people receiving resources from Three Square right now never expected they'd struggle to put food on their table, but our community has stepped up in droves in response.
"We rally around each other, Martino said. "It's that Nevadan spirit — we're 'Battle Born,' and this is what we do. It's incredible to see that come through in times like this."
"People see all the lights, the Strip and everything, but Vegas is a lot more than that," said volunteer Jerome Johnson. "We are a strong community, and this event proves that we're able to come together to help those who are less fortunate than us."
Three Square Food Bank says they plan on holding more emergency food distribution events throughout the Las Vegas valley as the government shutdown continues.
We've also put together a list of places you can go if you or your family need food right now. You can find it at KTNV.com/FoodBanks.