PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Nationwide, families are struggling to put food on the table as a bonus to their supplemental nutrition assistance program — or SNAP — are being cut back.
In Florida, the pandemic boost to SNAP benefits was removed last year, and in that time, the Palm Beach County Food Bank said it's seeing a surge of people needing help finding food.
"I was just a few days ago trying to figure out how much my husband makes, and it's just enough to pay rent," said Esther Saavedra, who relies on SNAP benefits. "It's not enough to buy meat or chicken, so we must survive with little."
Saavedra is a mother of three and said she cares for the children and does side jobs for extra income.
The family has relied on SNAP benefits for the last five years but has struggled for the previous year after the state of Florida removed a bonus for families because of the pandemic.
"That was really, really good," said Saavedra. "We were able to buy everything they could have, everything they want to eat, but after that is less, my kids don't eat the same way they used to eat."
The Palm Beach County Food Bank said families received about $95 extra on their SNAP benefits during the pandemic.
Last fiscal year, 12,000-plus people relied on SNAP benefits in Palm Beach County, and so far, they're projected to surpass that number.
"We're constantly receiving referrals, and we're constantly getting a lot of clients that come to our door that are looking for assistance," said Gustavo Amador, the benefits specialist manager with the Palm Beach County Food Bank.
Amador said the fewer money people have to get by, the more pressure it puts on food banks like theirs.
"People are struggling to put food on the table, and with the increases of prices of rent and gas and food, not having that additional assistance makes life even harder," said Amador. "We try to do our part to make sure that people don't go to bed hungry."
The Palm Beach County Food Bank reports 158,000 people in Palm Beach County are food-insecure — 48,000 of which are children.
"My motivation is my family," said Saavedra. "We stay together, and it's sometimes rough. We don't have what we need, but at least we can stay together."