SULLIVAN COUNTY — Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency yesterday in response to impending food assistance ceasing and announced $106 million in emergency food assistance funds which she said will support 40 million meals for New York’s food security network. The governor is also deploying Empire State Service Corps and SUNY Corps Members to support local food banks during this emergency period of increased need. 

The support comes as nearly three million New Yorkers are at risk of losing the food assistance they receive from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) starting November 1 due to the federal government shutdown. 

Local food pantries are the last line of defense against the increasing demand left by the potential lapse in SNAP benefits. According to A Single Bite, a local non-profit organization founded by Foster Supply Hospitality, there are 7,000 Sullivan County residents, including 4,700 children, who are at risk of losing food assistance if SNAP benefits lapse. A Single Bite is responsible for delivering weekly meals to 900 local residents and also the Real Food Education Program, which promotes healthy dietary choices and runs in all seven Sullivan County school districts. 

“These programs are more vital than ever as local children and families are directly impacted by funding cuts and other challenges to accessing sufficient healthy food,” said A Single Bite Executive Director Audrey Garro.

She said operations at A Single Bite have and will continue to expand in direct response to a 35% increase in requests for food since January. And, in anticipation of SNAP benefits being withheld and other economic strains on families, they have added kitchen staff and asked volunteers to help process donated produce in order to prepare as many meals as possible and to preserve the harvest for the months ahead.

Sullivan Allies Leading Together (SALT) Board President Martin Colavito, who will be walking 44 miles starting today to the Regional Food Bank in Montgomery, NY to raise awareness and funds for the ongoing hunger crisis, described the situation in dire terms: “What’s happening with us, we’re getting inundated by calls” from residents who are distressed about losing benefits. He condemned politicians from both political parties for manufacturing “anxiety, trauma, and depression” within the community and urged people to use their voice and contact their representatives. 

Colavito said SALT, in collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension, supplies 700 people each week with enough food to prepare two meals a day. He said the need for assistance is already outpacing available resources and that emergency food deliveries have increased more than 100% from last year. 

When asked how his operations will be affected if SNAP benefits stop, Colavito said, “I don’t know what’s gonna happen; it’s scary—these are my neighbors.” Despite the looming circumstances, he offered a positive message: “At the end of the day, hope is always in the room.”