WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor Carney and Lt. Governor Hall-Long on Wednesday announced a partnership with the Food Bank of Delaware to fill community food pantries statewide and hold food drives in each county for three months to help ease the transition from the ending of the federal Emergency benefits for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households. The Food Bank will help bridge the gap as SNAP families transition away from pandemic-related benefit increases.

In partnership with the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, the Food Bank of Delaware will be awarded $3.24 million of American Rescue Plan funding to provide these services.

“This funding will help stock shelves at local food pantries statewide, and it’ll support large drive-thru mobile pantries in each county to help Delaware families transition after the recent federal change to food benefits,” said Governor Carney. “Unwinding COVID-19 programs is a good sign, and this should help ease the transition. We’re grateful to the Food Bank of Delaware for their partnership to help bridge the gap over the next few months.”

“I have heard the concerns of families and communities throughout Delaware as emergency SNAP benefits end. Many families are already struggling to put food on the table,” said Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long. “This partnership with the Food Bank of Delaware will help ease the burden of the increased food hardship on these families as they transition back to regular benefit levels.”

The Food Bank of Delaware will announce the mobile food pantry distribution events in the coming weeks. Volunteers can look for additional information on the Food Bank of Delaware’s volunteer scheduling website (www.fbd.volunteerhub.com) Local and community food pantries can be found by visiting delaware211.org, texting their zip code to 898-211 or calling “2-1-1.”

“We are always stronger as a community when we partner together. We are grateful for our partners in state government who care deeply about our community’s most vulnerable,” said Food Bank of Delaware President and CEO Cathy Kanefsky. “When emergency SNAP benefits were first issued at the start of the pandemic, I don’t think any of us imagined that grocery prices would be so high due to inflation. Due to these increased costs, we are serving more people now than at the height of the pandemic. We hope these additional resources will provide much relief to our neighbors.”

As of March 1, 2023, SNAP households will receive their regular monthly food benefit amount on the normal issuance date and will no longer receive additional emergency food benefits on their EBT cards at the end of each month. Due to a change in federal law passed in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, the final emergency benefits SNAP payment was issued on February 28, 2023.

“We know the end of federal Emergency Food Benefits is going to be hard on Delawareans who receive SNAP benefits,” said Secretary for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services Molly Magarik. “We hope this partnership with the Food Bank of Delaware will help relieve some of the burden now faced by SNAP households in our state as they deal with fewer benefits and higher food costs.”