BRYAN, Texas (KRHD) — Salvation Army sees surge in families seeking food assistance amid federal benefit challenges
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15 ABC visited the local Salvation Army, where staff are working full-time to help neighbors get the food they need to feed their families.
Neighbors in the Brazos Valley have been feeling the crunch during the federal government shutdown and the suspension of SNAP benefits.
"We get partial food stamps, there are a lot of people out there, 40 million people that we're going to starve and the holidays are coming up. It's a hard time," Jennifer Jones said.
The increased demand is evident in the numbers at the Salvation Army food pantry.
"Normally, we average 80 to 100 families in the Salvation Army. We have seen that number between 100 and 150 in the last couple of weeks," Captain Luis Villanueva said.
Caleb Phillips, a Salvation Army worker, described the busiest day they recently had.
"It's probably last week on Wednesday, um, so that's the day that most people come. So we, and we actually didn't end the food pantry until 12 o'clock, so that was an hour later than we're supposed to, but we wanted to make sure that we were able to help as many people as we could," Phillips said.
Community members say the Salvation Army continues to be a valuable resource.
"I've got food here like a couple of weeks ago, and they give a good amount of food to help people get by," Jones said.
Villanueva emphasized that the organization always accepts food donations for the pantry.
"The Salvation Army emergency food pantry was always with the mission that is gonna be supported by the community," Villanueva said.
Residents appreciate having support during challenging times.
"Like I feel like the community is coming together now to help each other," Jones said. "So I think that's a great deal that our community is coming together to help each other."
The Salvation Army also assists with clothing, utilities, tutoring and more. For more information, go to www.salvationarmybcs.org
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