With the government shutdown well into its second month and uncertainty around SNAP benefits persisting, local organizations and businesses are stepping in to help South Dakotans experiencing hunger.
In the Black Hills, Rapid City’s Public Works Department and AFSCME Union are hosting a community food drive called “Pack the Pantry” through Nov. 23.
Shannon Truax is the Rapid City Public Works Administration Operations Manager. Truax says the food drive comes at a critical time for many community members.
"We just really need to make sure that at the end of the day, our neighbors, our friends, our family members are not going hungry," said Truax. "And the need is greater this year. So we're pushing harder this year, and we're asking for even more support."
Pack the Pantry collection bins are located throughout town where people can drop off non-perishable food items. Drop off points include the Rapid City Public Library, City Hall, Fire Station 1, the Bus Depot, the Public Safety Building and both Family Fare locations.
Even just a few days into the food drive, Truax says the response from the community has been remarkable.
"When we compare our first day of donations to previous years, we are off to a great start," said Truax.
Sean Jewett is the Public Works Ordinance Officer. He routinely collects the Pack the Pantry donation bins and brings them to Feeding South Dakota to be weighed and distributed. He says by day three of the food drive, about 800 pounds of non-perishables have been donated.
"It's the fourth year we've done this. This year it's been incredible because we've done as much in two days as we did in an average week for last year," said Jewett.
Breadroot Natural Foods Co-op has seen a similar rise in community support with their annual food bank voucher program. In 2021, Breadroot started a seasonal donation initiative where shoppers can buy $10 and $20 cash donations for Feeding South Dakota.
This year they announced they're matching those donations to help offset the partial loss to SNAP benefits.
"With the recent changes to SNAP, and the delays that we are experiencing with that for our local community, we just decided we needed to step in and do something," said Sharissa Stevens, the general manager of Breadroot Natural Foods Co-op.
Throughout the month of October, Breadroot raised $500 with the voucher program. In the first few days of November alone, when the government shutdown's impact on SNAP went into effect, the store raised almost double that, bringing their total to nearly $1,500 that they will now match.
"And that's going to just keep going through the rest of November. And we'll see what that ends up," said Stevens. "And we'll see what's happening in our ever changing landscape that we live in. If we need to continue this, then I'm sure we will."
Farther west in Hisega, the restaurant Mexico Tipico is providing free hot meals to community members in need.
Rosa Oros is the manager at Mexico Tipico. She says people can order four different meal options: two enchiladas with rice and beans, a burrito with rice and beans, tacos or chicken nuggets and fries.
"We decided to do it just because in our culture we believe that if one person eats, then two people or three people can eat," said Oros. "You never deny a plate of food to anybody. And that's how we all grew up. So we just want to help the community out."
Oros says anyone who needs a meal can message the restaurant on Facebook, call or visit in person.
"No questions asked," said Oros.
"We don't judge because some of us been there, where you don't have anything to eat and we don't want other people going through that," she continued.
The impacts to SNAP come at a time when more South Dakotans are experiencing hunger. Last December, Feeding South Dakota reported a sharp rise in families using its service. According to Susanne Gale, senior development officer at Feeding South Dakota, the organization served 20 percent more families in 2024 than it did in 2023.
"We're definitely seeing an uptick in need. And the gap between resources and need continues to grow," said Jennie Palmer, development officer at Feeding South Dakota. "We've been dipping into our reserves to bring additional food to our mobile distribution. And the need is just going to continue to grow, especially as we head into the holiday season."
With the government shutdown now the longest in U.S. history and thousands of South Dakotans facing new worries about their paychecks and groceries, Palmer said many are turning to charitable food networks like Feeding South Dakota for the first time.
"Food insecurity in South Dakota continues to increase year after year. We're sitting at about 12.4 percent. So that's about one in every eight adults and one in every five children who don't have reliable access to nutritious food," said Palmer.
Food insecurity exists in every county in South Dakota, ranging from 8.5 percent in Hanson County to upwards of 28.2 percent in Oglala Lakota County.
Feeding South Dakota announced in October that it plans to provide an additional 500,000 meals to meet the expected rise in need across the state.
