In the Monday, Oct. 30, edition of the Butler Eagle, we learned about the efforts of First United Methodist Church in Butler to meet the needs of the community.

First U.M. is one of five local churches that offer a meal one night a week for free. The Community Meals Ministry also includes First English Lutheran Church, St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, Saint Andrews United Presbyterian Church and St. Mark's Lutheran Church.

Meal programs like the ones from the Community Meals Ministry are becoming essential.

Last year, the Friday meal attracted about 133 people. Last month that rose to 258.

Part of the reason is the expiration of the emergency expansion of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program earlier this year. While the amount of the decrease depends on household size and income, the U.S. Census Bureau reported households received at least $95 less monthly, and for a household of four with a monthly income, the drop is $600.

Monica Perry, the business manager for First U.M., said the loss of the benefits is part of the reason more people are coming for meals.

“There are people on the margin who work and try to make ends meet, but gasoline went up or the furnace needed fixing,” Perry said. “They just don’t necessarily have enough food for this week.”

Federal data shows that 4 of 5 households that receive SNAP benefits have at least one person working. And the expanded benefits clearly made a big difference.

Starting in 2021, some states started to eliminate the extra benefits, and according to the Census Bureau, that had a big impact.

“Households receiving SNAP in states that opted out early consistently reported ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ not having enough food to eat at higher rates than those in states that continued to distribute additional SNAP benefits,” according to an April report on the end of the extra benefits.

The end of the extra benefits has clearly left a lot of unmet need both nationwide and here at home. The work the churches in the Community Meal Ministry do helps to meet at least some of that.

— JK