At the Christian Center of Park City’s Heber Valley food bank, a handful of locals collected food basics Friday morning. They stacked their carts with fresh produce, canned foods and frozen meat. Nearby, a group of volunteers from Soldier Hollow Charter School spooned flour into small plastic bags — rationing the supply so it will last longer.
Manager Valeria Cruz said the pantry has been seeing more and more people throughout the year, especially seniors, people with disabilities and single moms. These days, around 2,400 people visit each month.
She said most do not receive support through SNAP.
“One of the misconceptions that we see is that people believe that illegal immigrants qualify for it, but they don't, and that's where we come in,” Cruz said. “We make sure that everybody's receiving the help that they need.”
But that’s starting to change. Due to the government shutdown, the Utah Department of Workforce Services said Wednesday payments to the federally funded program cannot be issued. The state department said even accounts with money in them may not work after Nov. 1.
Cruz said she’s already had three people sign up for the pantry whose SNAP accounts were emptied.
“They had no idea, right, until this week that that was going to be the case, and so some are being surprised by not having a ledger on their card,” she said. “They were thinking, ‘I'm budgeting, I'm doing the right things, and now there's nothing there.’”
One of those who signed up was a mom with two kids. She and her partner both work full-time, but Cruz said they can’t afford rent along with food necessities, so they were using SNAP.
“Her sentiment was like devastation,” Cruz said. “She kept venting about how frustrating that was and how grateful she was that we were here.”
Wasatch County locals can visit twice a month to fill their carts, but there are limits on hard-to-come-by items like flour and sugar. There’s also a fridge of sandwiches and other lunches locals can take each day between 3 and 4 p.m., no questions asked.
Cruz isn’t sure how many more people will sign up to attend the pantry with SNAP cuts, but she’s worried there won’t be enough food for everyone. Only a few people sign up each week, but with three in one day even before the disruptions are in effect, Cruz is expecting a lot more.
The Christian Center’s pantry in Park City is expecting an influx as well; it already sees a couple hundred more monthly visitors than the Heber location. Cruz said there’s a misconception that with Park City being a ski town, there are only wealthy people. But there are many people in Park City and Summit County who need help covering basic needs.
Director of Programs Eli Shakelford said Christian Center pantries will see about a 30-40% increase in monthly visitors who had SNAP money. That’s about 1,500 to 2,000 more people per month.
Cruz said the demand on their pantries is exacerbated by others in the area limiting hours or closing. Community Action Services & Food Bank’s Heber location has cut its operations to two days a week and the Oakley and Coalville locations are only open once a week. In nearby Utah County, four of six food banks have closed.
State officials have said about 86,000 Utahns rely on monthly SNAP payments, which should resume once the federal government reopens. If she could speak to Congress, Cruz said she’d ask them to pass a funding bill as soon as possible so the most vulnerable Americans won’t suffer.
"The American people shouldn't suffer because you can't come to an agreement,” she said. “As an immigrant myself, that is not the America I know.”
In the meantime, Cruz plans to call for community support. She said locals are already donating food and cash as well as volunteering.
“We have seen it happen before in stressful situations that were like this back in the pandemic, and it was the community support that got us running. We didn't close a day,” she said.
Those who need help finding food resources can call 211 to find out more about food pantries and meal sites. 211Utah.org has food pantry locations by geography and Uah.org has emergency food resources.
