With SNAP funding running out this week, Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank asking for public’s help

MASON CITY — With money funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program set to run out on November 1st, the Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank is preparing for families, seniors and individuals who rely on those benefits to face food insecurity in the coming weeks.

Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank spokesman Ozzie Ohl says with 131,000 Iowa households receiving SNAP each month, as well as funds for the Women, Infants and Children or WIC program running out, they are anticipating many north-central Iowans will be in need.  “The other part of the problem, inflation in September was the highest number on the inflation chart since January, and we’re also facing a lack of availability from the Food Bank of Iowa, so we’re catching it on all four fronts, and it’s going to be challenging.”

Ohl says financial donations are critical at this time of the year.  “The items that we can buy at the Food Bank of Iowa are 16 cents a pound, and then when we’re buying from the grocery stores, we’re buying pallets, so we do get better pricing that way. So the financial donations are really crucial at this time of year.”

Ohl says you can make donations through their website, hawkeyeharvest.org, you can mail them to Post Office Box 1528, Mason City, Iowa, 50402, or you can stop in to the Food Bank at 122 South Adams between 9:00 and 11:00 AM weekdays.