“Being able to stock up my house again, it felt really, really good,” Louisville mother of two, Tyler Trabue, said.
Kentuckians on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are finally receiving their full benefits after weeks of delays and uncertainty leading up to Thanksgiving.
Just after midnight on Nov. 15, Louisville mom Tyler Trabue saw a $275 SNAP deposit added to her account — the date Gov. Andy Beshear said full payments would return to EBT cards. Trabue told WHAS11 she took her kids grocery shopping the very next day.
“Being able to stock up my house again, it felt really, really good,” she said. “My daughter likes to make smoothies, so [we got] the big bag of frozen fruit.”
Trabue is one of hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians relieved after weeks of waiting for the federal government to reopen so full food assistance could resume.
Like Trabue, Hailey McFadden of Shepherdsville said she received her November benefits in two deposits totaling about $900 to feed her three children.
“It was just pretty rough not getting it,” McFadden told WHAS11. “When you rely on it, especially with three kids and being a single mom, it’s kind of hard.”
Store owner Craig Oeswein, who runs the Save A Lot near Iroquois Park, said the weekend crowds were huge with Thanksgiving approaching. Many of his customers depend on SNAP, and he said this was the first delay he’s seen in his 20 years in the business.
“It’s a huge relief. It’s tough when you see people who are struggling, and you know they’re struggling… and we do what we can to help mitigate that,” Oeswein said.
At St. Matthews Area Ministries, Tuesday marked the first food pantry distribution day since benefits were restored. Executive Director Julie Abbott said community donations poured in during the shutdown, and she hopes that generosity continues because the need never goes away.
“Even during the pandemic, we haven’t seen turnout like this — both in the need and the generosity of our community,” she told WHAS11.
Trabue said she’s grateful the disruption is over and hopes it doesn’t happen again. If the shutdown had gone on any longer, she was ready to make tough sacrifices.
“Even if it took them eating and me not eating, it really is what it came down to,” she said, explaining she would always prioritize her kids.
Louisville Community Ministries and food pantries across the city continue working to feed families and meet the growing need.
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