As the ongoing Federal government shutdown threatens folks access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP), New Song Community Church in East Wenatchee is stepping up to ensure that no one goes hungry.
Last week the church launched a unique program called Community Cart, and through it volunteers are encouraged to meet folks in need at the store and go shopping with them. Pastor Kelsey Eberth said it’s not just a way to donate food, but also meet neighbors and form bonds of community.
“Our heart in this and our hope in this is to connect actual people,” Eberth said. “It is so much more beneficial to connect and build relationships than it is to just write a check or bring food to a food pantry.”
However she realizes that not everyone wants to meet up in person and take someone shopping. That’s why they’re offering other ways to help, including taking a needs and wants list and go shopping by yourself or by simply making a financial gift via the website that can be used to purchase grocery gift cards and food.
Eberth said fresh food is sorely needed.
She said she got the idea for the Community Cart program from an online meme, and the feedback since she announced it has been overwhelmingly positive.
In an era when many evangelical Christians seem more focused on political activism, I asked her why she and her church remain committed to serving the poor.
“I think Jesus would have been on SNAP benefits (or, for sure, would qualify). He was born into a working-class family that couldn’t afford the temple’s ‘standard’ offering. He spent his adult years relying on the hospitality of friends and strangers. He knew hunger, and he understood what it meant to depend on the kindness of others,” she said. “So perhaps my answer about how this connects to my Christian faith is less about Jesus feeding others (although he did that, a lot!) but perhaps a reframe that when we feed others, we are feeding Jesus. Because if Jesus were walking our streets today, it’s not hard to imagine him swiping an EBT card at the grocery store—and then inviting everyone around to share what he had. Because for Jesus, receiving help wasn’t shameful; it was a reminder of how deeply connected we all are.”
In her mind, Jesus wouldn’t ask: “Who deserves food assistance?” but rather, “Why should anyone go hungry when there’s enough for all?”
She said that she believes that in “God’s economy,” or what she calls the kingdom of God, meals are shared, not earned.
I stopped by New Song on Friday, Oct. 31 to speak with Pastor Eberth and learn more about the program. I asked her about the pernicious stereotypes used by some to vilify and belittle those on food assistance, and if the cliché of the “welfare queen” or feckless obese man-child living in his mother’s basement, leaching off the system was something she witnessed first hand. Are these characters as pervasive in the real world as those on Fox News and other infotainment channels would have us believe?
She said that almost everyone who reaches out for help starts with nearly two paragraphs about why they are in the position they’re in. Many are working one, sometimes two jobs, she said.
While it’s not her experience that most on SNAP benefits are milking the system or trying to pull one over on fellow taxpayers, Eberth did remark about how the need to accept food assistance can rob one of their dignity.
You can watch our full interview above, and if you would like to donate, volunteer or are in need of food assistance yourself you can reach out to them at newsongwenatchee@gmail.com.
You can also check out their website at newsongcc.org.
A SNAP Beneficiary’s Story, In Her Own Words
Ashley Kunz is a nurse and a cancer survivor. I interviewed her last year about that ordeal, but when she was younger she received food assistance through the precursor to SNAP.
She shared her perspective on social media recently, and I thought that experience was timely and worth sharing at present.
Here’s Ashley in her own words:
“I used to get food stamps. I used to have me and my daughter on state insurance.
I could sit here and justify why I needed it. Why, as a 24yo single mom to a young child, working a low wage job ($18/hr), taking out loans to pay for nursing school, moving back in with my parents, I needed help paying for food and medical care.
But you know what? I didn’t have to justify it then (I just had to meet certain income and household size requirements, which I did), and I certainly don’t have to justify it now.
And you know what? Those who think that receiving food benefits (or any other federal assistance like Medicaid etc) is a waste or is being used by people who are ‘leeching the system,’ YOU ARE WRONG. 1 in 4 recipients of food benefits are children. Many are elderly. Many work full time at low wage jobs. It’s FOOD for christ’s sake! That is a basic freaking human need.
I’m now 41yo with a good job and a husband with a good job. We have a moderate lifestyle, nothing extravagant. And with prices increasing on EVERYTHING, our food bill has gone up. We still live paycheck to paycheck. We are fortunate not to need food stamps, but I would never in all of my life be advocating for food benefits to be taken away from other people. The taxes we pay go to so many things, and food benefits are one of the best benefits our taxes help provide others.
If you’re one of those who supports the atrocities of this administration. Do better. Be a better human.”
