The following letter was released on 10/27/25 by the Kowalisyon Fè Grangou Istwa, of which the Food Bank is a member.

27 Oktòb 2025

The Honorable Maura Healey
Kay Eta Massachusetts
24 Beacon Street
Office of the Governor, Room 280
Boston, MA 02133

Dear Governor Healey:

The Make Hunger History Coalition, made up of over 130 Massachusetts organizations and partners including food access, healthcare, public health, local agriculture, elected officials, philanthropy, and grassroots advocates urge the Healey Administration to work with the Legislature to utilize the Commonwealth’s resources to ensure that SNAP benefits are not delayed as of November 1st, if the Trump administration refuses to utilize the SNAP contingency funds that would prevent a disruption during the current government shutdown.

SNAP serves more than one million residents in Massachusetts and is critical not only to the over 650,000 households utilizing benefits to purchase the food they need, but also the 5,500+ participating SNAP retailers. Each month, Massachusetts SNAP participants spend about $220 million federal dollars – accounting for $1 of every $5 of grocery sales in the Commonwealth and generating at least $330 million of economic activity. A disruption, even temporary, could have devastating impacts on the health and wellbeing of families and the Massachusetts economy. If next month’s benefits are not available, and SNAP participants turn to the statewide food pantry system to cover the gap, the four MA food banks would have to provide up to 56 million more meals in November–an impossible task. That’s more than 4 times what the food bank system currently distributes in an average month, in addition to the typically increased demand for food assistance the network experiences during the holidays.

While we continue to urge the federal administration to release SNAP contingency funds to cover November benefits, it is clear that we cannot wait on Washington to act. The administration announced on October 24th that “USDA cannot use contingency funds to pay for food stamps during the government shutdown”. As Massachusetts has done so many times before – from Universal School Meals, Healthy Incentives Program, and a three-month step down from COVID-related boosts to SNAP, we need Massachusetts to model what it looks like for a government to work towards a future where hunger is history.

We express our deep gratitude for the Governor, the Anti-Hunger Task Force, and the Legislature’s longstanding leadership in fighting hunger and supporting families’ basic needs. We ask you to extend that leadership once more by identifying and deploying the state resources needed to sustain SNAP benefits this November.

Sensèman,
Kowalisyon Fè Grangou Istwa

Cc: Members of the Massachusetts State Legislature
Allison Bovell-Ammon, Co-chair, Governor Healey’s Anti-Hunger Task Force
Commissioner Ashley Randle, Co-chair, Governor Healey’s Anti-Hunger Task Force
Alana Davidson, Co-chair, Governor Healey’s Anti-Hunger Task Force