On the first Monday morning of November, a seemingly endless stream of cars lined up outside the East Baton Rouge Council on Aging’s (EBRCOA) building on 18th Street.
They were all there for the same reason: a food drive organized to help families impacted by the ongoing government shutdown and the halting of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds at the end of the previous week.
Tasha Clark Amar, the head of the EBRCOA, was guiding traffic, and later helped hand out boxes of food filled with fruits, vegetables, meats and pantry staples. She said people started lining up in cars as early as 4 a.m. So many of them, in fact, that they had to start giving out food early.
“(We started) an hour early because the interstate was blocked down every lane coming back here.,” Clark Amar said. “It’s a vital need in this community, because people don't really realize how vulnerable seniors are.”
At the end of October, the Trump administration refused to use emergency funds for SNAP, better known as food stamps, meaning recipients would not get their November benefits. Louisiana officials initially promised to fund SNAP benefits for some residents, before suspending the program after the White House agreed to send some funds out.
But the constant back-and-forth with the program has left many still without funds on their EBT cards, and worried that they won’t have enough food to eat. Now, various governmental and charitable organizations, like the EBRCOA, are stepping up to meet the need.
The council is a local government agency that supports older people. As soon as people heard SNAP benefits wouldn’t be coming, Clark Amar said, people called the council.
“Our phone lines were flooded with calls for help to the point they shut down,” she said.
The average senior gets $15 to $50 a month from SNAP, Clark Amar said, so they were already turning to food banks for assistance often.
The shutdown — now the longest in U.S. history — is throwing seniors into a public health crisis.
One woman, Kathy Edwards, said she’d been waiting for at least half an hour in the line of cars before her turn, and remarked on just how many people showed up for help — estimating about 800 people in the crowd.
“It's a need,” Edwards said. “And I don't understand why Trump cut the people… their sources off, their food stamps. How can you just stop people from eating?”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields was also at the distribution center to hand out food.
While Republicans — both nationally and in Louisiana — have blamed Democrats for the shutdown, Fields blames Republicans for the issue.
“We, in the House, hadn't been in Washington, D.C. in over a month,” Fields said. “How can you negotiate if you're not even present?”
In another car, Linda Augustus was waiting for food to help feed herself, her grandkids and great-grandkids. She said her family normally receives SNAP benefits, and she needs this help. Otherwise, she might be forced to make tough choices between food and other necessities, like paying bills or filling medicine prescriptions.
“It gives you a little hope. That you’ll have some food to put on the table,” Augustus said.
The line at the distribution center started to clear around 11:30 a.m., seven hours after cars first started lining up. Clark Amar said she planned to take any leftover boxes to seniors in assisted living centers who may not be able to come to a food drive, but still need help.
