Stop the Hunger

Setting aside politics for a moment, the federal government shutdown, now in its fifth week, is having significant consequences. A Washington Post story last week estimated that it will cost the economy up to $14 billion. The Congressional Budget Office says up to 750,000 federal workers are being furloughed or required to work without pay. The impact on air traffic controllers is starting to affect travel just as the holiday season begins.

But none of that is as worrisome as the impact on the poorest among us, who are about to see the challenge of simply putting food on the table get much harder. That’s going to be felt in both red and blue districts.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has briefly lost funding, even though the courts require the government to find a way to get it back. The lapse — considering how easy it has been for this administration to find mountains of cash for other so-called “priorities” — will not be resolved fast enough to keep food benefits intact without interruption. The Trump administration now says it will make only partial payments this month, once those payments resume.

Governor Kathy Hochul has declared a state of emergency, which allowed $65 million to be provided to food banks, but this is a moment for the community to step up. East Hampton Town has provided $30,000 to food pantries locally, and organizers say private donations have increased a bit in response to the pending food emergency. People are being generous, and that’s wonderful.

We are about to enter a season when there will be much talk about giving, about the need for generosity to the less fortunate among us, about the kind of charity that every single religion says is not just laudable but is an obligation. Today — not at Thanksgiving, not in December — people are in need, and it’s the duty of every neighbor to step up and help.

Please consider a supplemental donation to your local food pantry — now. Don’t let it be your end-of-year donation; make this one in addition to that one. And don’t wait. People are hungry now. Please help feed them.