Rural western Oklahoma coming together to keep families fed amid government shutdown

ELK CITY, Okla. (KFOR) - It's Day 36 of the government shutdown, and there is no end in sight. Nearly 700,000 Oklahomans who rely on SNAP benefits are now trying to find ways to help put food on the table after learning funds would not be sent out at the first of the month.

Rural Oklahoma is where most of the state's SNAP recipients live.

HELP Inc., a food pantry in the western part of the state, has some shelves sitting empty after an uptick in people needing food assistance.

"On a normal day, before we had the government shut down, we were serving anywhere from 5 to 700 families a month," said Wendy Walker, Executive Director at HELP Inc. "Since that has happened, it's accelerated very, very quickly."

HELP Inc. feeds four counties in rural Oklahoma, including Beckham, Dewey, Roger Mills, and Washita counties.

"We have such a high rate of low-poverty families now," said Walker. "We're here for you, we will help you out, no questions asked. We just want to make sure that no family goes hungry."

While some of the most impacted by the snap benefits cuts are in rural Oklahoma, communities are coming together to keep families fed with the help of 'Blessing Boxes.'

"We try to keep it stocked throughout the week," said Pastor Andrew Dages, Church of Nazarene. "We got people come by, and also it's a donation box for anybody in the community to put stuff into the box for people less fortunate."

These 'Blessing Boxes' are located throughout Elk City, including other counties. Elk City alone has 13 box locations.

Families can take what they need or donate to them; either way, they help keep their neighbors fed.

"I don't want to say we're overlooked, but it may not be the most focused on the rural areas, but we have the benefit of being small, a smaller community, and we take care of our own people," said Pastor Dages.

Blessing Boxes can be helpful while a food pantry works to keep up with the increased demand.

"It's not just us," said Pastor Dages. "We're seeing them across western Oklahoma with churches or any other organization options. We see a lot of them coming together and trying to provide meals."

HELP Inc. says they serve 500 to 700 families a month on average. In the first week of November alone they served about 400 families.

They say they receive six to 10 new applications daily.