‘I Rely on Food Stamps to Feed My Family’ — Shannon’s Story

‘I Rely on Food Stamps to Feed My Family’ — Shannon’s Story 

Shannon, a single mom from Longmont, has always done her best to provide for her three kids. Like many parents, she’s careful about stretching every dollar, but when she learned that her SNAP (food stamp) benefits would end on November 1 due to the government shutdown, panic began to set in.

“I rely on food stamps to feed my family,” she said. “When I heard about the shutdown, I knew I needed to start stocking up in preparation.”

She had heard about Community Food Share growing up and often saw posts about the food bank on Facebook. But this was her first time visiting.

“I’ve used food banks before, but it’s been a long time because I’ve had SNAP,” Shannon shared. “It felt really emotional, having to come here. There were a lot of emotions going through my mind, but it’s gone really smoothly. There’s a lot of options. Everyone has been so kind and welcoming.”

Being able to walk through the shelves and choose groceries for her family made a big difference. “It felt really good, like, I could pick what we actually needed,” she said. “My kids’ birthdays are coming up, and I was even able to get a cookie cake and ice cream so they can have something fun to celebrate. That meant a lot.”

Before the shutdown, SNAP benefits gave Shannon stability. “We were able to just go to the store and pick out what we needed every month,” she explained. “I didn’t have to worry about not having enough food for my family.”

Now, with those benefits ending, she’s uncertain what comes next. “I’m scared,” she admitted. “I didn’t feel like it was real at first, like, there’s no way the government would do this. But now it’s feeling real. I’m going to have to choose between paying certain bills and feeding my family.”

Still, Shannon remains hopeful. “I see so many people in the community posting on Facebook saying they want to help and give to food banks. And just knowing that places like this exist, that gives me hope. It’s going to be different and hard for a little while, but we’ll get through it.”