The following article appeared in the Oct. 22, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
County starts telling 130,000 food-assistance recipients that benefits could be ending Nov. 1; imperiled by federal budget impasse
Mecklenburg County has started telling people who receive federal benefits to help buy food that the money might not be available starting in November because of the federal government shutdown.
The possibility of food-assistance benefits disappearing could ramp up the pressure on local food pantries, which are bracing for a surge of people needing food. It could also result in greater purchases at grocery stores toward the end of the month, as those receiving benefits attempt to stock up.
The money that is at risk starting in less than two weeks comes from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. It used to be called food stamps, but low-income recipients now receive the benefits on a card that works like a debit card and allows them to buy food at grocery stores and other locations.
In Mecklenburg, about 11% of the population — or roughly 130,000 residents — participates in the program, according to data from the N.C. Association of County Commissioners.
A county spokeswoman told The Ledger this week that the county is following guidance from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, which received a letter from the federal government that benefits might be disrupted if the shutdown continues.
“We are working to get a better understanding of exactly what that disruption will mean for North Carolina,” county spokeswoman Betsy Abraham said in an email. “It may mean that November [SNAP] benefits may not be issued on recipients’ normal schedule for their usual benefit amount. We will share updates as soon as federal guidance is issued.”
She said the county has started communicating the information to benefits recipients when they come in for services and contact the county’s call center.
A spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Health and Human Services said it will “continue to provide updates as we receive them from the federal government.” She said 1.4 million North Carolinians rely on the program, including 583,000 children.
Other states have started warning residents that food-assistance benefits could start drying up if Washington doesn’t adopt a budget. Republicans and Democrats have been unable to agree on healthcare spending and have reached a stalemate in negotiations to fund the government.
Andy Ellen, president of the N.C. Retail Merchants Association, whose members include grocery stores, said that the expiration of food-assistance benefits would put a strain on food banks and food pantries — nonprofit organizations that help low-income residents get food.
“If people aren’t getting those benefits, they will shift where they get their food to elsewhere,” he said. “How do we ensure that people who have depended on these benefits get fed should this program shut down?”
A spokeswoman for NourishUp, which runs 42 food pantries in Mecklenburg County, told The Ledger that demand for its services is still in line with where it was this time last year. But if it becomes clear that federal benefits will be cut off, NourishUp is forecasting the demand will skyrocket, as people seek to stock their pantries.
NourishUp can always use donations of food and money, as well as volunteer time, she said. —Tony Mecia
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