Maine food pantries see increased need as SNAP benefits go down

PORTLAND (WGME) -- Food pantries in Maine say they're seeing a big uptick in need now that federal SNAP benefits are going down.

The pandemic-era increase ended at the beginning of this month.

Since then, volunteers at the South Portland Food Cupboard say they've seen a jump in people reaching out for help.

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“So we're seeing a real uptick in our recipient base, it's up at least 30 percent in the number of people that are coming here now and a lot of that is attributed to the decrease in the SNAP benefits that’s happening now in the state of Maine,” South Portland Food Cupboard Executive Director Dwayne Hopkins said.

They say with increased costs across the board, the need will increase as well.

Volunteers say if you want to help, the best thing you can do is donate fresh groceries, not what's in your own cupboard.

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