It’s the 35th day of the government shutdown and with the future of SNAP benefits up in the air, a Montgomery County, Maryland, mom leapt into action by joining a grassroots effort that she saw online.
A week ago, Kristin Schmidt, senior minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring, saw a video on Facebook of someone who took on what they call a “Grocery Buddy.”
The person took their grocery buddy shopping at a supermarket and made sure that even if their SNAP benefits ran out, they would not go hungry.
“I thought, well, like, I can’t fix the problems with our federal government, but I can certainly, you know, buy somebody’s groceries for the week,” said Schmidt.
Schmidt made a post of her own on the Olney Moms Group Facebook page, letting them know that she was going to get a grocery buddy and encouraged others to join her.
There were between 50 and 100 replies, with many more requests than offers.
The buddies were matched up by Schmidt, and she encouraged them to meet in person and get to know each other. Schmidt said she and her buddy knew some of the same people.
Schmidt said instead of going shopping together, she gave her buddy a gift card.
“It feels really good to know that I’m supporting someone in my community,” said Schmidt.
There’s so much need that Schmidt got a volunteer to help her match up buddies, and along with creating forms to help speed up the process, there will soon be a website dedicated to Grocery Buddy.
The mother of three said reading the requests was moving.
“The stories of particularly people who have disabilities, people who have children with special needs, people who really do rely on the common good of society in order to provide what they as individuals just aren’t equipped to provide for themselves and their loved ones,” said Schmidt.
Until the website is up, Schmidt is taking requests for help and to help via her email address, which is minister@uucs.org.
“For me, that is the best of who we are as human societies is making sure that nobody falls through the cracks,” said Schmidt. “In a country that allows people to become billionaires, that we make sure that we feed and care for those who live closest to life’s margins.”
Schmidt pointed out that she did not do this alone and spoke of the importance of neighbors working together to help others.
“It feels good to be living out my values in the world and making sure that people are getting what they need, because I think our communities are stronger when everybody has what they need,” said Schmidt.
Around 42 million people in the United States receive SNAP benefits a month, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is roughly 1 in 8 people.
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