Dear Friends and Supporters,
Over the past several weeks, our community has weathered challenges that tested the resilience of the people we serve, the dedication of our staff, and the strength of the entire nonprofit food response network. I want to take a moment to share where things stand, and to express our deep gratitude for your partnership.
Finally, after two long weeks, SNAP recipients were able to access their full benefits again. For many, this interruption meant facing difficult choices: taking out payday loans, delaying utility payments, or stretching already-tight budgets. It will be difficult to measure the full impact of this disruption, but we know it is immense and did not end the day benefits went back onto cards.
We are grateful to the municipalities and agencies that placed temporary holds on utility shutoffs, the nonprofit partners who stepped in wherever they could to support people in crisis, and the donors and volunteers who chipped in to help. You helped fill critical gaps at a moment when many were unsure where else to turn.
This crisis showed us that even in a state like Oklahoma, with our belief in the Oklahoma Standard and tremendous philanthropic capacity, community alone could not begin to meet the needs of people at the same scale as SNAP or other federal nutrition programs if one of them goes away. Each of us found a way to help more people and offer additional help to those we already served, and even still we did not come close to serving the more than 600,000 SNAP participants in Oklahoma. We need our state and federal government to play their role: to provide resources at the scale needed to address systemic problems.
In addition to the temporary loss of resources, SNAP participants also experienced traumatic confusion regarding their benefits; one day they were told they would receive partial benefits, the next day no benefits, the next day full benefits, and then none, and so on. That confusion has not ended. While federal SNAP benefits can continue to be distributed without interruption through September 2026, recent public messages and misinformation have created confusion and fear. To be clear: as of today, no one is being kicked off SNAP outside of existing legal requirements, and no one is being forced to reapply outside their normal recertification timeline.
However, we do know that new federal time limits (branded as “work requirements”) as well as new limitations on certain legal immigrants will soon put many people at risk. Tens of thousands of Oklahomans, and millions nationwide, could lose access to food assistance. This includes young people aging out of foster care, people experiencing homelessness, veterans, parents with unstable work hours, older adults, and immigrants such as refugees with humanitarian protections. These are our neighbors who are working, caring for family, and doing their best, yet they may lose essential support due to no fault of their own. These are the only current and concrete changes to SNAP eligibility, and our focus should now turn to education, help with compliance support, and advocacy with policymakers based on the impacts these policies are having. In times like these where chaos and change come daily, we must focus on what is true and what is actionable.
There will undoubtedly be another attempt to change, cut, or undermine SNAP in the next year or so and when that happens, we will do our best to keep you informed on how we plan to act and how you can do the same. We mustn’t lose sight of the fact that what hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans experienced for two weeks is what could be experienced by anyone who loses benefits due to new policy changes or eligibility requirements. We cannot allow this experience to create apathy or complacence when smaller cuts happen to SNAP or other programs. Each small cut or change in who is eligible leads to devastating consequences for those affected, and then another change impacts another group, and so on. We must work to prevent any cut, big or small, that leads to our friends and neighbors not having access to the food they need.
Thank you for standing up for folks that are food insecure, for believing in this mission, and for helping us meet both the immediate needs and the long-term challenges our community faces. Together, we will continue to show what is possible when compassion leads and when we refuse to let anyone fall through the cracks.
In gratitude,
Chris Bernard
President/CEO
Hunger Free Oklahoma