Teri Rexing of Evansville is helping tally her order on Saturday, Nov. 8 at the Community kitchen of the CK Newsome Center.
She rattles off her items to the volunteer clerk, who keeps track for her total. It included hamburger meat, turkey lunch meat, mozzarella cheese, bananas and more.
The room is bustling with volunteers and families seeking groceries. A line stretches out of the room and around the building.
This event is providing a portion of what the electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card holders would have received on their regular benefit. Included are federal workers who aren’t being paid during the shutdown.
Rexing estimates that with her $50 voucher, she received about $100 worth of groceries at no cost. She usually receives $300 per month for herself and her three children.
“I mean, it's gonna be hard this month," she said. "Especially with the holidays and Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it's gonna be really hard the next few months."
She works full time constructing window frames for garage doors.
Lisa Vaughan, director of Feed Evansville, is relaying orders from a customer to volunteers.
“So today, feed Evansville, for the first time, opened their EBT SNAP grocery store, and we are allowing citizens that have enrolled in SNAP but aren't getting their funding on their SNAP card to come and go shopping at our pop-up grocery store," she said.
"So we have different dry goods, cereals, syrup, flour, things like that. And then we also have a produce section, a meat section, and then they can just basically shop for what they want. There's no money to them. We give them a voucher based on how many are in their household, and we go from there.”
She was planning on 200 to 300 families, but early on she thought she might double that.
She said while customers could take their vouchers to a regular store, the money goes further here. Though, they can’t provide the entire benefit at this time — they’re limited by their budget.
This grocery store was one part of the City of Evansville’s food Readiness Plan which included a pause on water shutoffs and a master list of food providers during the shut down.
“So as soon as we know snap is completely taken care of, is when this grocery store and the rest of the things we have planned will stop,” Vaughan said.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun announced on Monday afternoon that partial benefits will be paid by the state of Indiana for low income Hoosiers — a decision welcomed by republican state reps Wendy McNamara and Matt Hostettler.
There are no details on the amount EBT card users can expect but it should have appeared on Tuesday.
The U.S. Senate has passed a budget resolution to end the shutdown. It needs to pass the U.S. House next.
Vanderburgh County alone usually receives $3.7 million dollars monthly for SNAP benefits.
After purchasing with a voucher, recipients load their groceries into their vehicles. Vaughan said the back-and-forth concerning food benefits has stoked confusion and anxiety among the community.
“… anytime people start getting confused, a lot of myths then get put out there. And when myths get put out there, and confusion happens, as far as I'm concerned, that's where fear starts coming in, and then people start worrying. And they don't know what to do next.”
Another grocery story is planned for this weekend.
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