Quad Citizens concerned over potential SNAP freeze

QUAD CITIES, Iowa/Ill. (KWQC) - The government shutdown is nearing a full month. With no end in sight, Quad Cities residents said things are getting tight.

The Trump administration announced earlier this week federal food assistance programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will stop beginning Nov. 1. For many across the QCA, this means dire straits.

“It’s hard because we just got our own place,” Cheyenne Wasson, a Quad Cities resident said. “And I have a one-year-old daughter that needs food, and we need food and everything else too. I feel bad for the other families out there that have kids and there selves. Because it’s not going to be easy.”

According to USDA data, nearly 42 million people used SNAP benefits in 2024. For disabled people like Ann Marie Migura, who can’t work, losing benefits is worrying.

“Very upsetting,” Miguara said. “I have my brother at home, he’s a diabetic and he has to have something to eat too.”

Since the announcement earlier this week, Riverbend Food Bank has been seeing an uptick in business. Officials with the foodbank said 65,000 people in their service area will no longer have federal food assistance.

Riverbend Food Bank president and CEO, Chris Ford said this is causing attendance to rise like they’ve never seen before.

“We are already seeing extraordinary numbers at pantries that we run ourselves,” He said. “At NorthPark today we saw over 400 people, 38 of those people were people who have never been to a food pantry before.”

Wednesday, Senate democrats pushed for legislation to continue funding SNAP but it failed.