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OSJL: Food 20% Off Till SNAP Is Back

[RI.gov] SNAP food benefits will run out Nov. 1 as federal officials debate the use of contingency funding typically used during federal shutdowns.
[RI.gov] SNAP food benefits will run out Nov. 1 as federal officials debate the use of contingency funding typically used during federal shutdowns.
[RI.gov] SNAP food benefits will run out Nov. 1 as federal officials debate the use of contingency funding typically used during federal shutdowns.

NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI — Discount retail chain Ocean State Job Lot (OSJL) has announced the entire food section in all 17 Rhode Island stores will be discounted 20 percent until the federal SNAP program has been fully reinstated.

Monday, the Trump Administration announced it would begin funding  Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) assistance, but that its contingency fund would only allow half of the usual funding, despite Judges’ orders in Massachusetts and Rhode Island federal court instructing President Trump and his Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, that they had the legal access to an additional $23 billion to fund the program and court orders for them to do so. Those court orders gave Trump officials until Monday to deliver the funding, which it failed to do, even at the half-measure Trump officials announced. Tuesday, Trump officials had still not delivered any funding to the system from either the estimated $6 billion SNAP contingency  fund or the USDA’s $23 billion “Section 32” fund. Monday marked the first time in the SNAP program’s 61-year history that funds have been halted as Trump officials delay complying with the court orders.

Ocean State Job Lot’s assistance, meanwhile has been made effective immediately, according to a company statement. The discount includes coffee and tea, peanut butter and jam, cooking oils, spices, and hundreds of Bob’s Red Mill products.

“At Job Lot, we’ve learned how many of our fellow Rhode Islanders are being significantly impacted by the interruption in the federal SNAP program,” said Marc Perlman, Principal Owner and CEO, Ocean State Job Lot. “To help ease this burden, starting immediately, the entire food section of our Rhode Island stores will be discounted by 20 percent to all customers until the SNAP program is fully funded and stable.”

Related story: Shutdown Standoff: DEMs Oppose Hiking HSRI Bills

‘To help ease this burden, starting immediately, the entire food section of our Rhode Island stores will be discounted by 20 percent to all customers until the SNAP program is fully funded and stable.’ — Marc Perlman, CEO, Ocean State Job Lot

Monday morning, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Representatives Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo held a press conference at the NEARI Food Drive Location 99 Bald Hill Road, Cranston, RI,  demanding that the Trump Administration stop ignoring bipartisan calls to fund SNAP, comply with the law, and immediately release billions of dollars in emergency U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding for SNAP.  The Congressmen also took the opportunity to highlight the Rhode Island AFL-CIO’s 15-site food drive to aid needy families waiting on Trump officials.

Additional efforts to aid hungry families, as Sen. Reed supports bipartisan efforts to restore funding in the Senate, include:

  • Emergency Payments for Families with Children McKee is deploying up to $6 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding to provide an emergency payment to help more than 20,000 eligible families with children (approximately 65,000 individuals) offset the loss of federal SNAP benefits. If the federal government continues to fail to fund SNAP, the first state payment would be deposited directly onto EBT cards as of Nov. 1, with the second following on Nov. 16. According to federal regulations, TANF funds can only be directed to qualifying families with children.
  • Emergency Funding to the RI Community Food Bank: McKee is directing $200,000 of Social Services Block Grant funding to enhance capacity at the RI Community Food Bank. After meeting with the Governor’s office last week, the RI Community Food Bank has already placed an initial bulk order to help ensure resources are mobilized and ready to be distributed to food pantry partners in local communities across the state.

Recently, through its  Charitable Foundation, OSJL partnered with the United Cajun Navy to coordinate the delivery of 91,531 pounds of organic pasta—equivalent to more than 183,000 eight-ounce boxes—to active-duty military personnel and their families affected by the ongoing government shutdown to Fort Hood Texas, Fort Polk, Louisiana and other U.S. military base locations where military families are experiencing food insecurity. The organic pasta, which includes shells, elbows, and linguine, was donated by one of OSJL’s food distribution vendors in Illinois. Upon learning of the available inventory, OSJL mobilized its extensive logistics network and reached out to the United Cajun Navy to ensure the product reaches communities where it’s needed most.

 

Rob Borkowski
Author: Rob Borkowski

Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at editor@warwickpost.com with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.

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