City leaders announce food drive to support families affected by SNAP cuts
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- City launches Lexington’s Big Give food drive through Dec. 2 to aid families
- Residents can drop unopened nonperishables at multiple city and partner sites
- Organizers partner with God’s Pantry Food Bank to coordinate collection and distribution
City leaders in Lexington have organized a food drive to help families who rely on food assistance programs that have been cut due to the federal government shutdown.
The food drive, called Lexington’s Big Give, begins Monday and will run through Tuesday, Dec. 2. Mayor Linda Gorton said she wants to make this the biggest food drive in the city’s history.
“Lexington is truly a city that gives and cares and steps up when there’s a big need,” Gorton said at a Monday news conference. “Now is the time for all of us to show up, whether it’s with one can or 25 cans, we are in need of food assistance to help our friends and neighbors.”
Unopened, nonperishable food items can be donated at any of the Lexington Fire Department’s 24 stations, the Lexington Police Department’s headquarters and three roll call facilities, God’s Pantry Food Bank locations in Fayette County, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and county clerk’s office, the Government Center, the Phoenix Building, the Lexington Senior Center and the Family Care Center.
Lexington police officers and Fayette County sheriff’s deputies can also accept donations as part of their regular duties while out in the community.
A full list of items that are eligible for donation and the locations for donation sites can be found on the city’s website. People can also donate money on the God’s Pantry Food Bank website.
“Solving big challenges start with small human acts of kindness,” said Commissioner of Social Services Kacy Allen-Bryant, who helped organize the drive. “Each of us has the power to make life a little easier for someone else, and when we do it together, results are truly transformative.”
Last week, Gorton was meeting with city commissioners when Allen-Bryant raised concerns about the limits of food assistance programs affecting families at the Family Care Center. The center provides child care, education and support services for young parents in Lexington.
Allen-Bryant said about 50% to 60% of the center’s families rely on food assistance programs, and she anticipates that number to rise as funding for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program is cut short amid the government shutdown.
Nearly 600,000 people in Kentucky — about 1 in 8 Kentuckians — depend on SNAP to pay for groceries. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear previously said the state will not have money to fund the program while the government remains shutdown.
On Friday, two federal judges in Rhode Island and Massachusetts ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration must find the money to fund SNAP benefits used by 42 million Americans. However, it’s not clear if the Trump administration, which has argued it does not have legal authority to tap a $5 billion contingency fund, will appeal the rulings.
Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman previously said it would likely take several days, or longer, for the program to ramp back up if the administration does not appeal.
Gorton said leaders came up with the idea for a food drive, and several people jumped in to help families in Fayette County who rely on SNAP benefits.
Emergency Management Director Rob Larkin helped coordinate the donation locations and created an interactive map of the donation sites, and kept the partnership organized.
“It always takes someone or someones to step up and say, ‘I can do this, I can do that,’” Gorton said. “It happened in a matter of hours.”
The city partnered with God’s Pantry Food Bank to help run the food drive. God’s Pantry Food Bank began operations in Lexington 70 years ago and provides food for nearly 280,000 people in 50 counties in Central and Eastern Kentucky.
“We’re inspired by the generosity and compassion we see every day, that’s why Lexington’s Big Give is so important,” said Danielle Bozarth, Vice President of operations and philanthropy at God’s Pantry Food Bank. “It’s a chance for all of us to come together to give big, to care big and to make a big difference.”
