CINCINNATI — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced on Saturday that eligible Kentuckians should see Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits restored as soon as Nov. 15.
“Once again, members of Team Kentucky worked through the night to process SNAP benefits to ensure their fellow Kentuckians didn’t have to wait a minute longer to receive the support they need to feed their loved ones,” Beshear said.
Ohioans will see full November benefits distributed by mid-next week, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services announced on Friday.
The amount each SNAP recipient gets will be the full November benefit minus any partial payments already received, per ODJFS.
WATCH: What the demand for one Tri-State food bank's services looks like as states distribute November SNAP benefits
According to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, eligible SNAP recipients in the Hoosier state should expect funds to be available on their EBT cards by Sunday if their regular issuance date for November has passed.
The restoration of SNAP benefits marks the end of a two-week period that saw a surge in demand at food banks across the Tri-State, as families struggled to put food on the table.
"We're thrilled that we were able to step up and meet that challenge and help to fill that gap and lessen the anxiety level for many of the families we served," Kurt Reiber, president and CEO of Freestore Foodbank, said.
The food bank's two Cincinnati locations saw hundreds more families in need of help, daily, this past month, Reiber said.
"So we saw dramatic increases at both locations," he said. "We also heard from our pantry network across the 20 counties served by the Freestore Foodbank that they were experiencing a 30 to 35% increase in demand as well."
Reiber said there is a sense of relief with SNAP benefits restored, but the historic government shutdown's impacts will linger for months or longer.
"This is not going to be something where we just sort of flip the light switch on and things go back to normal," Reiber said. "There's been a lot of challenging situations for the families that we're serving in the Tri-State area; they've burned through a lot of their reserves, and many of them were living paycheck to paycheck right from the very beginning."
It comes at a time when food banks across the Tri-State are entering one of their busier seasons: the holiday season.
"We (purchased) about $1.5 million worth of food just to serve the month of November, December, for the families that we're serving," Reiber said. "I would say that it's a busy season for us."
That heightened demand has been met with an outpouring of support, Reiber said. There are ways to continue that help too. The food bank is teaming up with LaRosa's for a campaign through Sunday. If you donate $100 to Freestore Foodbank, you will receive a free "Buddy Card."
