Food lines grow as SNAP delay, rising costs stretch KC families in holiday season
As the line outside Jackson County Public Health in Lee’s Summit grew, Maria Barrera was near the front filling out paperwork.
In her wheelchair, with gloves covering her hands and a winter hat keeping her head warm, Barrera, 62, was grateful a neighbor woke her up that morning to tell her about the monthly food distribution. Maybe, she said, if she’s lucky, they’ll have a comb she can have and some “oranges or pears.”
Anything these days, with inflation and rising bills, helps out, says Barrera, a former corrections officer who is now on disability after she said she woke up five years ago paralyzed. She says her ailments include a spinal cord that’s been “smashed,” no right hip and “my two legs, there are transplants inside there,” all from “a birth defect that finally caught up with me.”
“I’ve been deducted from my disability,” said Barrera, who doesn’t get federal food assistance and struggles to pay for the food she needs. “I was deducted $570, and I have, of course, expenses and medical things that I pay out of pocket. ... I’m caught in the middle, still trying to learn the system and asking questions, but yet I come home with nothing.”
Food pantries and mobile distributions have become a lifeline for people like Barrera across the Kansas City area.
Inflation has hit hard and food insecurity continues to rise. It’s why the lines have been long in recent weeks and organizers sometimes see double the amount of people — and many new faces.
“We have people calling every day looking for food,” said Lauren Allen, case management supervisor with Jackson County Public Health. Monthly food distributions, which Allen helped start in December 2023, typically serve 50 to 70 households.
But in recent months, especially after the government shutdown and subsequent delay of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, more and more families are needing help.
“I think people are wondering, ‘Could (SNAP) stop at any time?’” Allen said. “’Am I going to get the rest of it?’ So we are seeing a lot of insecurities at the moment.”
‘Hitting up a lot of the pantries’
And with Thanksgiving just a week away, the anxiety over food is even greater.
“I’ve been hitting up a lot of the pantries,” said Anna Simmons, 60, of Kansas City. She said gets just $24 a month in SNAP benefits and relies on pantries and food distributions like the one Wednesday to make meals for herself.
“I’ve been doing my Google and Google will tell you where your resources are,” Simmons said. “So that’s really been helping me out. ... I’d say this is probably my fourth one.”
Near Simmons in line was Debbie Moody. She waited for more than an hour before she could go “shopping” in the health department’s conference room.
Her brother used to come to the monthly distribution for her, but he died three weeks ago. So now she goes to get food for the family, including three grandchildren, ages 4, 5 and 7.
“There are days when we don’t have meat,” said Moody, 66. “We get milk maybe once a month or once a week. We get a gallon of milk, and it has to last a week.
“It’s hard.”
In limbo over SNAP
For several weeks, families across the nation had been in limbo, unsure of when or if they’d get their SNAP benefits to put food on the table.
As the government shutdown lasted a record 43 days, 1 in 8 Americans who rely on that assistance — a total of 42 million people — struggled. States were left confused as the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued guidance on multiple occasions giving differing information on what percentage of benefits households should get.
Earlier this month, before the shutdown ended, Kansas was one of the states that issued full SNAP benefits after a federal Rhode Island judge ordered the Trump administration issue full November assistance to recipients. But Missouri waited on that, based on what was new guidance on Nov. 8, and began distributing partial benefits last week. Once the shutdown ended, the Show-Me State said it would begin issuing the remaining benefits.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson with the Missouri Department of Social Services said recipients began seeing their full SNAP benefit available on Nov. 15. And “households currently active will receive benefits according to their standard issuance dates.”
“DSS continues to oversee timely distribution to support Missourians and encourages recipients to monitor their balance by logging into their online ebtEDGE account or calling the number on the back of their card,” said spokesperson Baylee Watts. “DSS remains committed to ensuring families have access to the assistance they need during this time.”
Harvesters food bank, located in Kansas City, has heard from partnering agencies that are trying to support people who are worried that they won’t have enough food.
“Before the shutdown, the need for food assistance was at a 10-year high,” said Sarah Biles, a spokesperson with Harvesters. “So we’re looking at over 374,000 people in our 27 counties that are at risk of hunger before the shutdown. “
And because many weren’t getting paid during the shutdown, and others were dealing with inflation and rising costs and SNAP delays, that caused more need.
“We know it’s going to take a bit for people to get back on their feet,” Biles said. “If they had to take out any credit cards, you know, put stuff on credit cards, that would have interest rates or loans, obviously they’re going to be paying those back.
“And holidays are just a tough time.”
‘Maxed out my credit cards’
Amanda Jefferson was the first in line Wednesday morning. She didn’t want to miss this distribution and showed up at 8:30 even though it didn’t officially open until 10.
The last time Jefferson, who lives in south Kansas City, came to the health department’s food distribution, she said the line “stretched all the way to the road, plus some.” So she knew that this month, after the delay in SNAP benefits and demand at the pantries, she needed whatever she could get Wednesday for her and her husband, who both are on disability, and their 7-year-old son.
She typically uses her SNAP benefits to stock up on meat, and relies on pantries and mobile distributions for vegetables and other canned goods. It was tough, she said, when those benefits were delayed.
“Actually, I’ve maxed out my credit cards, the little bit of credit cards I had,” Jefferson said. “My food stamps came in, so I went and got the turkey right away.”
The bags of food she took home Wednesday, “will help tremendously,” Jefferson said.
Same for Amy Turner, 31. She and her 11-year-old daughter live with her parents and her grandma and she said she’s been denied SNAP benefits “because I make too much.” She said she continues to apply for SNAP benefits.
“It’s so irritating because now I have to go ask my mom, ‘Hey, I don’t have food for my child, can you please help?” Turner said. “I’m a single mom. I work 40 hours a week and hardly can make anything to go get food.
“I have nothing right now, and I’ve already been to one pantry this month.”
During Wednesday’s two-hour monthly Harvesters’ event, roughly 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of food was distributed, including 900 pounds of produce. In total, organizers said 501 people in 120 households received food.
Before Maria Barrera drove away with her groceries, including fresh produce and canned goods, she said she felt “beautiful,” and that the morning was like “the Fourth of July” for her.
“Today has been a very special day,” Barrera said. “Because Kansas City stepped up and said, ‘Hey, you’re our residents, we want you to eat.’ Thank you!”
The Star’s Tammy Ljungblad contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
