By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland joined local food bank leaders, volunteers and residents at a recent news conference to warn that federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are placing additional pressure on working families, seniors and children, while community organizations struggle to meet growing demand for food assistance.
Representatives from the Making A Difference Foundation and Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank, Thurston County Food Bank and The Food Source Foundation described increasing requests for emergency food, reductions in available resources and the challenges of helping residents whose incomes no longer cover basic living expenses.
According to Strickland, SNAP participation nationwide has declined by more than 5 million people since the enactment of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In Washington state, participation has decreased by more than 57,000 people, while food bank usage has increased by 9%. Strickland also reported that children account for 44% of SNAP recipients in Washington.
Strickland criticized the Trump administration and Republican-backed changes to federal nutrition programs, arguing that reductions in assistance are affecting families already struggling with food insecurity.
“The Trump Administration continues to shred our social safety net and take food out of the mouths of hungry children,” said Strickland. “SNAP is a critical program for seniors, families and children across the nation. Our local partners can help support families, but the damage from the Big Ugly Bill has been done.”
Beyond the immediate impact on households, speakers also raised concerns about the economic consequences for neighborhood businesses. SNAP benefits help support food purchases at participating retailers, including independent grocery stores that depend on customers using federal assistance.
According to advocates, SNAP transactions can account for 15% to 20% of revenue at some independent grocers. Reductions in benefits could therefore affect both household purchasing power and sales at local businesses, creating additional challenges for communities already facing rising living costs.
For Ahndrea Blue, president and CEO of the Making A Difference Foundation and Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank, the growing demand for food assistance reflects the financial pressures facing households throughout the region.
“Today, we’re here because hunger is not a political issue. Hunger is a human issue,” stated Blue. “At Eloise, we serve over 100,000 people every month, distributing about 1.8 million pounds of food. We see our working parents struggling to feed their kids, seniors choosing medication over groceries, and veterans struggling just to put food on their tables.”
Blue said the needs of working parents, older residents and veterans demonstrate that food insecurity extends across the community and cannot be addressed by emergency food distribution alone.
Those pressures are also evident at Thurston County Food Bank, where Executive Director John Ficker described increasing demand at food pantries and satellite distribution sites, even as the organization receives fewer resources through federal programs.
Ficker said the food bank eliminated its dedicated SNAP Education team amid growing operational and financial pressures. He also reported that pantries have repeatedly broken single-day attendance records, prompting the organization to expand evening hours and home delivery services while exploring additional ways to serve residents outside traditional operating hours.
Ficker said nearly 25% of the food bank’s pantry customers in 2026 have been first-time visitors.
He described the increase in demand during his remarks.
“Since the beginning of just this calendar year alone, we have seen a 25% increase in our customer base, just in this year, all of those being first-time users of a food bank or a food pantry,” Ficker explained.
The growing need extends beyond households without employment. Chris Hyde, founder and director of The Food Source Foundation, said many residents seeking food assistance are working but still unable to afford groceries after paying for housing and other necessities.
The foundation serves approximately 1,800 to 2,100 meal portions weekly in the greater Olympia area. Hyde described clients earning between $25 and $35 an hour who find themselves with little or no money remaining for food after covering their basic expenses.
Hyde said the foundation has expanded its food service over the past two years as demand has increased. He reported a particularly sharp rise in need during October, especially among residents working full time.
For those residents, the challenge is not simply finding employment but earning enough to keep pace with the cost of living.
The experiences of volunteers and food bank clients offered another perspective on the pressures facing South Sound families.
Sheree Staples, a volunteer with Eloise’s Cooking Pot, discussed how her experiences with childhood poverty continue to shape her understanding of food insecurity. She also described the difficulty of managing chronic health conditions, including diabetes, while balancing the costs of health care, groceries and other necessities.
Her experience illustrated how financial hardship can affect more than a household’s ability to purchase food. For residents managing ongoing medical needs, the cost of maintaining their health can create additional strain on already limited resources.
“Behind every conversation about food assistance are real people and families trying to make ends meet. Protecting access to nutritious food helps strengthen the whole community. I hope today’s discussion leads to lasting support for the neighbors who need it,” Staples said.
Jah Morgan, a client and volunteer at Eloise’s Cooking Pot, spoke from the perspective of someone who works but still faces financial challenges.
“It affects us all, whether you’re working, whether you’re not working, or you’re trying to transition. I work, and I still have challenges because of this,” Morgan shared.
While Hyde described the broader increase in demand among working residents, Morgan’s account brought that reality closer to home, illustrating how employment does not necessarily eliminate the need for food assistance.
As demand increases, community organizations are continuing to adapt their services to reach residents who may face transportation challenges, limited mobility or work schedules that make traditional food distribution hours difficult to access.
Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank has used drive-through distributions at Tacoma Dome Lot G and home delivery partnerships through DoorDash’s Project DASH program to help connect residents with groceries and other food resources.
Thurston County Food Bank has also expanded evening hours and home delivery while considering additional weekend service options to accommodate residents whose schedules or circumstances make it difficult to visit during regular hours.
Other community leaders attending the news conference included Michelle Douglas, CEO of Emergency Food Network; Stacy Crinch, CEO of GoodRoots; and Seth Kirby, chief impact officer of Greater Tacoma Community Foundation.
Although food banks continue relying on partnerships, donations and volunteers to respond to growing needs, regional leaders emphasized that community organizations cannot fully replace federal nutrition assistance.
For Blue, the scale of the demand and the financial pressures facing working families, seniors and other residents underscore the limits of what food banks can accomplish on their own.
“Let me be clear. Food banks cannot replace the federal nutrition safety net. We cannot fundraise our way out of a national hunger crisis.”
