SNAP Cuts and Tariffs Threaten Thanksgiving for Thousands of Staten Island Families
Empire State Voices Donates $1,000 Worth of Food to El Centro Community Job Center Ahead of Annual Thanksgiving Meal
STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK — Yesterday, Empire State Voices donated $1,000 worth of turkeys and non-perishables to El Centro Community Job Center ahead of their annual Dorothy Day Thanksgiving dinner for low-income Staten Island residents. At a time when 1 in 4 U.S. households are living paycheck-to-paycheck and food prices are on the rise due to tariffs, families across New York are struggling to put food on the table. Cuts to SNAP have only made matters worse.
As grocery costs have risen, so has food insecurity across Staten Island and Brooklyn. Over 120,000 New Yorkers in the 11th Congressional District rely on SNAP food assistance, nearly a third of whom are children. Because of SNAP cuts included in the Republican Tax Law earlier this year, which Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis voted for, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are at immediate risk of losing their benefits as strict new requirements begin to be enforced.
Empire State Voices donated $1,000 worth of turkeys and non-perishables to El Centro Community Job Center ahead of their annual Dorothy Day Thanksgiving dinner for low-income Staten Island residents. | CREDIT: Empire State Voices
“The cost of living and high prices have reduced my capacity to cover essential expenses, which forces me to use more credit and cut back on necessities,” said Viviana, a resident of Richmond.
“All of us have to do more hours at work to be able to afford anything, since we are a family of six,” said Mishel, a resident of Bulls Head.
"Over the past year, we’ve seen the cost of living crisis in New York grow even worse, as tariffs and SNAP cuts have made food even more unaffordable for working families," said Zachary Tirgan, Regional Organizing Director for Empire State Voices. "The cost of tariffs has been passed onto American consumers, and what meager benefits New Yorkers had relied on have seen repeated attempts from Congress to the White House. With the cost of health insurance set to skyrocket next year, more and more families are finding themselves forced to make impossible decisions between going hungry or forgoing the care that they need. In a country as rich as ours, where billionaires are getting massive new tax cuts, this is just unacceptable."
Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are at immediate risk of losing their benefits as strict new SNAP requirements begin to be enforced. | CREDIT: Empire State Voices
To learn more about Empire State Voices, please reach out to press@empirestatevoices.org
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About Empire State Voices
Empire State Voices (ESV) is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. ESV is fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.
