Join us to Protect Food Assistance for Mainers in Need

Federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is at risk. Congress is working on changes to key tax policies that will result in a drastic increase in the deficit. This will increase long-term pressure to substantially cut spending and nutrition programs like SNAP will likely be on the chopping block. Other programs that are important to the people we serve will likely also be at risk.

Cuts to SNAP would also lead to increased hunger in our state and dramatic increases in demand on local hunger relief programs. Cuts would also damage the Maine economy and the businesses where SNAP recipients spend their benefits.

Good Shepherd Food Bank has joined with our partners at Maine Equal Justice Partners and Preble Street to form the Alliance to Protect SNAP. Over the next year, we will work to educate the public and our Congressional delegation about the importance of SNAP and will raise our collective voice to advocate for this crucial program.

To sign your organization onto the Alliance to Protect SNAP to receive ongoing updates, please contact Clara McConnell at cmcconnell@gsfb.org.

SNAP in Maine

• More than 189,000 people in Maine use SNAP to access enough food
• 63% of Maine SNAP recipients are in families with children
• 43% are in families with members who are elderly or have disabilities (a higher proportion than the national average, which is 30%)
• 41% of the Maine families who accept SNAP are working but cannot fully afford meals with their paycheck alone
• SNAP lifted 47,000 people in our state out of poverty each year, on average, between 2009 and 2012 (including 16,000 children)