Eastern North Carolina residents react to losing their extra SNAP benefits

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - More pandemic-era aid is coming to an end. On Wednesday, at least 900,000 North Carolina residents who receive money from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will see a drop in benefits by at least $95.00 a month, with the potential of losing even more.

“When they take the food stamps from, it’s gonna be a little bit worse than it is now because the food stamps they do help me as far as once a month go buying food,” said Melinda Waters, Greene County resident.

According to Food and Nutrition Services, some residents will lose up to $8.12 per day. That’s the same amount they were given in March 2020. Now, with many residents used to getting that extra cash, some hardships may be on the way.

“I’m diabetic, and a lot of things I eat like food suggestions, sometimes I can’t get them if I don’t have the food stamps to get them with,” said Waters.

Even though residents will lose the extra money, SNAP-Education is trying to help them learn how to get the biggest bang for their buck.

“A big component of SNAP-Education is to really learn how to stretch your dollar too so that you have more access to the healthy foods and how to improve it,” said Rachel Pohlam with SNAP-Ed.

But even with education programs, some say it still is difficult to keep up with rising inflation.

“I mean, who could’ve foreseen the cost and the extra amount it would take going back to the eggs? I don’t think anybody could prepare themselves for the high cost of produce and general staples,” said Greene County Senior Center Director Sharon Harrison.

Even though families will not receive the extra benefits starting Wednesday, they will still receive money through SNAP based on their income. SNAP recipients can go to ebtedge.com to check the new amount they will be receiving starting March 1st.

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