Aloha helps keep Hawaiʻi fed even during SNAP crisis
From volcanic eruptions to the pandemic to the current SNAP benefits disruption, Hawaiʻi people show up with incredible kōkua and heart. It’s this living spirit of aloha that keeps us upright when the ground beneath us feels uncertain.
From Gov. Josh Green and Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke standing up the Hawaiʻi Emergency Food Assistance Program, to local food banks and nonprofits activating to distribute food, to individual community members volunteering and donating, our collective relief effort shows that Hawaiʻi will take care of its own when disaster strikes or when federal systems falter.
And yet, this crisis is far from over. Even with many Hawaiʻi SNAP recipients having received November benefits and the federal shutdown ending, the last few weeks’ complex legal battles, Supreme Court rulings, and disruption of benefits without a clear path or timeline to return to regular SNAP distribution means thousands of Hawaiʻi households still live in uncertainty.
Even with the Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services acting swiftly to issue full federal SNAP benefits to most eligible families and the Hawaiʻi Emergency Food Assistance Program providing $250 of state-funded support per SNAP recipient, 2,400 Hawaiʻi households — many of which are on Hawaiʻi island — did not receive November benefits. For these households, along with thousands of furloughed federal workers, the fridge is still empty.
