The Rhode Island Foundation announced Tuesday it is dedicating $1 million in emergency grants to combat hunger across the state as federal SNAP benefits face suspension beginning Nov. 1, with several Newport County food assistance programs set to receive immediate support.
The foundation will immediately distribute $200,000 to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, which supplies more than 100 food pantries and meal sites statewide. In Newport County, that network includes the Salvation Army Newport Corps’ Food Pantry, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center Food Pantry, the Community Baptist Church Meal Site, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul – St. Joseph Food Pantry in Newport.
An additional $800,000 will be distributed directly to nonprofit organizations through the foundation’s Community Partner Resilience Fund.
“Make no mistake about it. This is a crisis,” said David N. Cicilline, the foundation’s president and CEO. “Hunger is always looming for many of our neighbors, but this is unprecedented. The safety net that so many Rhode Islanders depend on to feed their families is on the verge of disappearing.”
The emergency funding comes as Washington suspended Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments to states effective Nov. 1. The program currently helps feed an estimated 143,000 Rhode Islanders in every city and town across the state.
Cicilline emphasized that philanthropic funding alone cannot address the scale of the crisis and called on the public to match the foundation’s $1 million commitment. Donations can be made at rifoundation.org/food.
“State government and the philanthropic sector are working to respond to this moment, and we urge the public to help us,” Cicilline said, noting that the foundation will prioritize grants to agencies “that can get food into the hands of people quickly and efficiently.”
The Rhode Island Foundation regularly provides grant support to Community Action Program agencies, food pantries, meal sites and anchor organizations providing food assistance throughout the state.
