With food assistance benefits set to expire for 77,160 Summit County residents, County Executive Ilene Shapiro is asking the communities in Ohio’s fourth-largest county to come together to help their neighbors find a meal.
Summit County Council approved $250,000 in emergency funding to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank to assist residents losing their Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits — commonly referred to as food stamps — as a result of the ongoing government shutdown.
She said the money will provide 750,000 meals, but added those meals won’t go very far when 77,000 people depend on SNAP. Shapiro said that’s why she’s asking all the county’s 31 communities to contribute emergency funds as well.
“This is what we do here in Summit County,” Shapiro said during an Oct. 28 news conference. “We bring everybody together to ask them to help work on the things that are positive, and when we are facing headwinds, help us navigate through the headwinds.”
She urged all organizations in the county to think about what to do to help “weather this storm.”
While there is $6 billion in federal contingency funds available, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it won’t use the money to finance SNAP, prompting a lawsuit from attorneys general and governors from 25 states and the District of Columbia.
“The administration could feed our families.” said U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Akron, who spoke alongside Shapiro at the news conference. “Unfortunately, they have chosen not to, and have chosen to allow kids, families and seniors to go hungry. I am asking for the administration to release the contingency funds as appropriated by Congress.”
She reassured residents in her district that she and her office will do all they can for constituents in their time of need.
Sykes introduced the Feed Our Families Act in September, which she said will provide a three month reserve of SNAP funding to shield families from the fallout of future shutdowns “and political standoffs.”
Separately, U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, announced Oct. 28 that he had signed on to the Keep SNAP Funded Act of 2025. According to a release from Husted’s office, “The Keep SNAP Funded Act would appropriate the necessary funding to provide uninterrupted SNAP benefits, retroactive to the start of the shutdown.”
Stephanie Carothers, deputy director of Family and Adult Services for Summit County Department of Job and Family Services, said her staff is swamped with calls from residents use SNAP to feed themselves and their families. Many SNAP recipients, she said, have children; others are elderly or disabled.
Carothers said her staff hears stories from callers concerned about going hungry and having to make the decision to either buy food or pay bills.
“As you can imagine, people are scared and looking for answers,” she said. “We are receiving hundreds of additional calls each day from anxious, fearful and disgruntled individuals who are scared about the loss of SNAP benefits and what that means for them and their families.”
Is WIC impacted?
WIC, which stands for Women, Infants and Children, is a special supplemental nutrition program administered by the Department of Agriculture.
Greta Johnson, Shapiro’s communications director and assistant chief of staff, said WIC’s schedule is different from SNAP’s. While funding for SNAP benefits will expire Nov. 1, Johnson said, ” as its been explained to us, WIC will be in place through the end of November.
However, she said, “things are subject to change at any point at any day.”
How can people at risk of losing benefits get help in Summit County?
Johnson said the executive’s office encourages callers to dial 211, “an entry point for folks who are looking to setup an appointment with a food bank (and) find out what’s available in their area.”
The 211 webpage also contains a list area food pantries at https://tinyurl.com/SummitFoodPantries
Johnson encouraged people to check on their neighbors to see what they need.
“Do not hesitate to reach out to your local representation,” she said.
“When the state and federal government are unable or unwilling to act, it always is incumbent upon the local governments to step in, and that’s what we do really well, here,” Johnson said.
What are the potential economic effects of a SNAP freeze on Summit County?
The expiration of SNAP benefits, Johnson said, means the loss of $15.5 million to the area’s economy.
“$15.5 million will not go to local farmer’s markets,” she said, “locally owned grocery stores, and all of the ancillary businesses that support these businesses will be deeply impacted.”
Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com or 330-541-9413.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Summit County executive urges communities to assist SNAP recipients facing funding cutoff
Reporting by Derek Kreider, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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