by Maya McFadden The New Haven independent
Inside Alexander Rogriguez’s bag Friday.
A new city pop-up food distribution site at Lincoln-Bassett School handed out 450 full grocery bags in an hour Friday afternoon — leaving relative latecomers like Alexander Rodriguez to walk away, grateful nevertheless, with just two containers of pasta sauce and two cans of tuna. “It’s better than nothing,” Rodriguez said.
That was the scene Friday as the city and public school district worked to help fill the gap left by the continued pause in the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps.
More than 30,000 New Haveners haven’t received any SNAP benefits so far this month — as is the case for tens of millions of Americans across the country — because of the Trump administration’s continued refusal to tap into contingency funds amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.
The city and dozens of local nonprofits have hustled to meet that food need over the past week. On Friday, the Lamont administration announced that Connecticut would restart November’s SNAP benefits in full in a matter of days.
Click here for list of food pantries and other related resources around the city.
On Friday, the Elicker administration — working with the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) district — introduced its latest effort to support families in need of food: a pop-up grocery bag distribution at Lincoln-Bassett School in Newhallville.
A second pop-up pantry is scheduled for Nov. 14 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Fair Haven’s John Martinez School at 100 James Street.
At Lincoln-Bassett on Friday, a line of cars and pedestrians began to form at around 2 p.m. despite the distribution being advertised as starting at 4 p.m., according to city Deputy Community Services Administrator Carlos Sosa-Lombardo.
That resulted in the pop-up distribution beginning at 3:30 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. All 450 bags were gone by 4:30 p.m.
Sosa-Lombardo said the SNAP pause has exacerbated the already large need for food assistance in New Haven. He heard from several families Friday about the supplemental work the city’s food pantries and Connecticut Food Assistance Network (CFAN) have provided to residents. He handed out a flyer listing off the hours and days of operation for several of the city’s food pantries as families picked up the last of the food.
At around 4:50 p.m., New Havener Alexander Rodriguez stopped by the pantry with his son, mom, and cousin. All the grocery bags were already gone. He picked up the last of the tuna cans and two large containers of pasta sauce.
Sisters Sherese Harrington and Love Azizi joined the Friday line to each secure a grocery bag of non-perishables like macaroni and cheese, beans, and pasta sauce.
They agreed that while they are not sure how long the grocery bag will stretch with their families, they were grateful and hoped the city sees that everyone needs support, not just those who receive food stamps. Harrington picked up groceries Friday for her four grandkids while Love Azizi picked up for her three young kids.
Love Azizi said due to heightened cost of living expenses most New Haveners could benefit from food assistance like what was provided at Friday’s pop-up pantry. “There’s people with no vehicles and who are elderly and can’t make it to these. They should deliver to people’s doors and use the list in schools to see how many kids they have so they can make bag with enough food.”
They both learned about the pop-up pantry on Facebook.
“You can have the greatest job and still need help,” Love Azizi said. “I want the mayor to show us why he ran again and really help everyone who’s struggling.”
Meanwhile, after bags ran out in the walkers line just before 4:30 p.m, Supt. Madeline Negrón and Mayor Justin Elicker continued to hand out dozens of remaining large cans of pasta sauce and tuna fish.
Lilac Street resident Gregory Byrd walked over to Friday’s pantry with his nephew at around 4:40 p.m. in hopes picking up groceries to support his family. While ready with several reusable bags to fill with food, the duo left with a few cans of the pantry’s remaining pasta sauce and tuna fish.
“Prices going up like taxes and bills, anything helps,” he said while sharing plans to possibly make spaghetti with pasta sauce for his family.
He noted that his family was considering driving around the city to find other open pantries Friday, but only if they were able to secure access to a car.
He concluded that he’s glad the city’s leadership hasn’t given up on New Haveners in need and noted that pasta sauce and tuna are two practical foods that can be stretched for several meals.
As residents picked up food, volunteers called out, “SNAP benefits will be restored Monday,” in reference to the governor’s pledge that — regardless of what the federal government does — the state will be funding the program through at least the end of November.
Mayor Justin Elicker cracks open remaining boxes of pasta sauce.
Friday’s pantry volunteers.