Love Chapel expects to set a new monthly record for families served this week after the food pantry saw a spike in demand following a lapse in federal nutrition benefits during the longest government shutdown in history.
As of Monday morning, Love Chapel had served 1,635 families so far this month, according to Kelly Daugherty, the organization’s executive director. That puts the food pantry on pace to serve well more than the monthly record of 1,698 families in December 2024.
“I have no doubt (we’ll set a record),” Daugherty said. “…I think we’ll pass it either today or tomorrow.”
The spike in need came after Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits lapsed on Nov. 1, when the Trump administration initially declined to tap billions in reserve funds that Congress had authorized for such emergencies, according to The Associated Press.
The administration later agreed to make partial payments of food assistance this month following court orders to do so and then fought an appellate court order requirement to make full payment.
As a result, nearly 5,400 Bartholomew County residents lost at least part of their November SNAP benefits.
The most recent data from the Indiana Department of Family and Social Services shows that 5,382 county residents — 2,735 households — received a collective $1.01 million in SNAP benefits in September. Love Chapel has put the number of affected local households at more than 3,000.
As of last week, Love Chapel had served around 120 new families this month who had never been to the food pantry before.
“I’m going to guess that by the month it will be around 150 new families that have come to us for food,” Daugherty said.
At the same time, Love Chapel has seen what Daugherty described as a “tremendous increase” in donations from community members, local employers and organizations this month.
Earlier this month, the City of Columbus and several community partners announced that they will be providing $300,000 in emergency funding to Love Chapel, aiming to help the food pantry meet surging demand following the lapse in SNAP payments.
The community partners include Cummins Inc., Centra Credit Union, Toyota Material Handling North America, Love Chapel Foundation and Heritage Fund of Bartholomew County. The emergency funding aims to ensure that Love Chapel could continue providing meals and food assistance affected by the disruption to SNAP benefits.
The $300,000 donation is the largest one-time cash donation in Love Chapel’s over 50-year history, Daugherty said.
To put the donation into perspective, Love Chapel gives out about $360,000 worth of food per month, Daugherty said. The donation will allow the food pantry to “definitely double, if not triple” its capacity this month, he said. Love Chapel has purchased over $70,000 of food so far this month, including $57,000 of food last week.
Because of the donations, Love Chapel has been giving out two extra frozen meats, two extra canned meats and several other extra items to everyone this month, Daugherty said.
“We’ve just been overwhelmed and overjoyed with the way the community has responded,” Daugherty said. “…Our shelves have never been fuller.”
However, the community support has gone well beyond the $300,000 donation announced this month, Daugherty said.
For instance, Love Chapel briefly ran out of produce at one point this month amid the surging demand for food. While the organization had bought $57,000 of food, the order did not arrive in time for a mobile pantry.
Love Chapel advised people via Facebook that “if you can make it until tomorrow” with food, the organization’s truck would be fully loaded the following day “because we’re out of produce and fruit right now.”
However, local community members saw the Facebook post and dropped off food donations as the mobile pantry was set to open.
“Our pantry opened at 3 p.m., and by 3:20 p.m., I had a full shelf of produce and tons of fruit to give out,” Daugherty said. “People just saw it on Facebook. …Whipkers sent over 250 pounds of tomatoes, and we had eight different people that just dropped off produce to put on the shelves. It has just been heartwarming to see it happen.”
While the government shutdown has ended, the hardship low-income Bartholomew County residents are experiencing has not, local officials said.
And December is typically the busiest month of the year for Love Chapel.
“We’ve made the decision to continue through December giving out the extra food,” Daugherty said. “…Even though SNAP benefits are coming back, people need to catch up, and I’ve got a feeling December will be just as busy, and then we’ll evaluate it come January, but it might be the new norm.”
