TULSA, Okla. — In light of Gov. Kevin Stitt's comments Oct. 29 on not committing state funds to ensure SNAP funding continues, food pantries prepare for the worst.
Iron Gate on Archer reports seeing a 20% uptick this week with recipients of its food pantry.
WATCH: 'There's anxiety': Food pantries brace for SNAP funding freeze
"(There's) anxiety all around from our guests and our staff," Iron Gate executive director Carrie Vesely Henderson. "This is an unprecedented action."
The anxiety stems from the government shutdown, causing a freeze of SNAP food funding, effective Nov. 1. That could impact 116,000 Tulsans, Vesely Henderson said.
"We know once people are fed, everything is better," Vesely Henderson told 2 News. School attendance is better, work attendance is better, (and) productivity goes up. So this is more than just an eating dinner program."
Braden Park Baptist Church had to end its People's Pantry this month but continues its free Wednesday hot dinners cooked by Russell Ford.
He said he's already seen ten percent more hungry customers in the last two occasions of the free dinner.
"And it's gonna get worse as the food shortages come up," Ford said. "I could go back up to 125-130 people a week if I need to...We could sustain it for a short period of time."
Iron Gate hosts its sixth annual Scare Away Hunger Food Drive on Oct. 31, taking donations from 7am-4pm. The hope is its donation events won't have to repeat in November.
"Politicians on all levels need to get a plan of action and not leave hungry Oklahomans," Vesely Henderson said.
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