SNAP benefits change starting this month

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as the “food stamp” program, made changes to benefits starting this month. The program will be eligible for those who are between the ages of 18 to 50, with no child, and are working 80 hours a month or are enrolled in an education or training program.

The maximum age was raised from 49 to 50, which means more people can enroll, in contrast to when a lot of people lost benefits after extra pandemic benefits ended, in May.

Although stores have not seen the impacts of the new change yet, a store manager says past changes with SNAP benefits impacted grocery stores significantly, and they have to accommodate everyone. Donnie Sumerlin, the store manager said, “You kind of have to look at your ordering process and what you order because you don’t want to continue ordering as heavy as you were if you don’t have the same amount of volume coming in, so what we’ve done, we just had meets, manager meets and adjusted to each week’s sales to make sure we have the right product in.”

The consideration for seniors’ physical capabilities is also taken into account.

Rich Zeck, the Executive Director of Pitt County Council of Aging told WITN, “People who are 60, 65 years old and older, they cannot work. So, the opportunities to increase revenue or get a job or an income is way more limited for those who are 60 and older than those who are 50 and under.”

The next change with SNAP benefits will happen on October 1, when the eligible age will be raised to 52 years.

The age range will keep increasing, until next year, when it will apply to those up to 54 years old.

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