I Bought Baby Formula For My Neighbors Who Depend On SNAP. It Was A Big Mistake.
My husband doesn’t ask questions — not even when six large cans of infant formula appeared at our house on Halloween, despite us not having a baby. Without hesitation, he carried the bags inside and returned to making sourdough pretzels. If he had asked, I would have explained that I was fed up waiting for "someone" to address the government shutdown and the millions risking losing SNAP benefits in November because of it.
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The school our children attend serves many food-insecure families. Once a month, the local food bank sets up tables in the school parking lot. When two federal judges ordered Trump to continue food assistance programs last Friday, I felt relieved for our community.
However, the school resource officer quickly emailed families assuring that breakfast and lunch would still be available daily for every student. My concern was, but what about the babies?
So I bought six large cans of formula and posted in all my local Facebook groups that anyone who needed them could find the formula on my front porch.
Author’s summary: Helping neighbors by buying infant formula during a SNAP crisis highlighted the urgent need for government action to protect vulnerable families from hunger.