Thread by @NBCNews

Food banks are struggling to feed the hungry during the pandemic, swamped with millions of Americans newly facing food insecurity and those receiving government assistance that doesn't get them through the month. nbcnews.to/3jzn1Za

(1/9) #NBCNewsThreads

"We have always been there since 2009, assisting the community," said Kinda Makini-Anderson, from Detroit’s Inner City Youth Group. "But since the pandemic it's been an overload."

She estimates the nonprofit has provided over 150,000 meals in the last 10 months. (2/9)

Makini-Anderson said 98% of the households she serves are already getting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits — formerly known as food stamps.

But the benefits provided by the nation's program for the hungry are simply not enough. (3/9)

Experts and advocates say the pandemic has exposed a system that is outdated and inadequate.

"People run out of benefits two to three weeks into the month," says Joseph Llobrera, who oversees research on food assistance at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. (4/9)

Before Covid-19, the average SNAP benefit was about $1.40 per person, per meal. During the pandemic, everyone on SNAP was bumped up to the maximum of $2, but the families already at the maximum, those most in need, weren't given additional funds. nbcnews.to/3jzn1Za (5/9)

Last month, the Biden admin. challenged the US Dept. of Agriculture, which manages SNAP, to fix that and reassess the basis for the benefit itself, which hasn't been revised since 2006, or dramatically reassessed since the 1970s. (6/9)

"Unfortunately, we have not seen a light at the end of the tunnel," said Brian Barks, president and CEO of Food Bank for the Heartland.

Barks said that the changes to SNAP announced by the Biden admin. last month have him feeling hopeful. (7/9)

Barry Chambliss and Melissa Michaux, who have five kids, lost income because of Covid-19. They applied for SNAP in the spring and were denied.

"It said that I need to turn in verifications of end of employment for jobs that Barry hasn't had in years," Michaux said. (8/9)

After an @NBCNews story aired earlier this month focusing on their family, Makini-Anderson says the agency has reached out offering to provide help.

Now, food banks wait for action from the Biden admin. and the Dept. of Agriculture for relief. nbcnews.to/3jzn1Za (9/9)