On November 1st, 2025, millions of people across the U.S. who relied on the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) started to go hungry. 600,000 people in Indianapolis alone lost a human necessity. The reason that this is happening is due to the government shutdown. Because of the government shutdown, federal workers and programs aren’t getting the money that they need. As the shutdown is nearing a whole month, many programs don’t have enough funding to continue on to the next month which causes great problems for those who depend on them.
There is a fund set aside by the federal government for times like these so that the program can keep running even through government shutdowns. The Trump administration has been ordered by multiple federal judges to use the fund for its intended purposes after the Trump administration said they were going to withhold the fund. They stated that they would do this because they don’t think it will do anything to help the program even though they have moved money to help other programs since the start of the shut down. Many states decided to sue Trump so that he would unlock the funds to continue the program into the following months.
One of Indiana’s state representatives, Greg Porter, has a proposal to help keep the SNAP benefits program funded for those in Indiana during the time of the shutdown. His plan proposes that we use the $2.5 billion extra from the last budget to fund the program and help keep local food banks open. However, this plan is having trouble passing due to many Republicans in the State Budget Committee voting against it, saying that putting money on the EBT cards is the federal government’s job and not the states. Nonetheless, Porter is still advocating for his plan because he thinks that there could be a way around the complaints that would help 600,000 Indiana Hoosiers.
This is currently the second longest shutdown in American history, the first being in Trump’s first term at the end of 2018 to the beginning of 2019, lasting 35 days. It will also be the first time the SNAP program will experience this kind of disruption since its implication as one of America’s biggest anti-hunger programs during the Great Depression in 1939 if the shutdown lasts any longer- and so far it is looking like it will.
Food distribution events that are happening in Indiana during November:
–Central Christian Church: open 10am till noon on both the second and last Saturday of the month.
–Catholic Charities Crisis Office: open 1pm to 3 pm, 5pm to 6 pm Mondays, and 10 am to 11 am and 1 pm to pm on Tuesday, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
–CAFE Indy: open 1 pm to 3pm on the second and fourth Monday of the month.
–Wallace St. Evangelical Church: open 9:30 am to 11 am on Mondays and Fridays.
–First Free Methodist Food Pantry: open 10 am to 11:30 am on Mondays.
–Saint John’s Love Center: open 11 am to 1 pm the first and third Wednesday of the month.
–Turning Point Family Worship Center: open 4pm to 6 p.m. Mondays and 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays.
–Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church: open 11 am to 12:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays.
–Harmonie Hearts Community Services: open noon to 2 pm on the first and third Saturday of the month.
–Love Your Neighbor Food Pantry: open 9 am to 11 am on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
–Southside Church Of The Nazarene: open 6 pm on the first and fourth Thursday of the month.
–Share Food Pantry at Diversity Church: open 5 pm to 7 pm on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month.
–Faith United Church Of Christ: open 9:30 am to noon on the third Saturday and following Sunday of the month.
–Uplifting Spirit Church in Christ Inc.: open 1 pm to 3 pm the second and fourth Thursday of the month.
–Popsie’s Pantry at Jewish Family Services: open 9 am to 2 pm Monday through Friday (appointment required).
–One More Inc.: open 10 am to noon the second and fourth Saturday of the month.
Sources:
- https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-10-28/nonprofits-worry-about-food-insecurity-in-southern-indiana-as-government-shutdown-continues
- https://www.npr.org/2025/10/28/g-s1-95189/snap-food-stamps-government-shutdown-november
- https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/history
- https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indiana-lawmaker-rep-greg-porter-proposal-to-fund-snap-during-federal-government-shutdown/531-65378120-f00a-4581-8d2b-f5bf51448c98
