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Tomorrow, next month, this winter, people are going to go hungry, and it will not be an accident. In November, SNAP/EBT benefits are being cut right before the holidays, right before winter, right before families already hanging by a thread will need help most. This is not just a news headline. This is a death sentence for people who have done nothing wrong except be poor in a country that has more than enough for everyone.

I have been there. I’ve stood in food pantry lines in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, watching the shelves empty while the line behind me stretched out the door. I know what it’s like to do mental math in the grocery store, to count the days and the dollars until the next deposit, to pray your EBT balance will cover the basics. The only reason I made it through some months was SNAP and the kindness of strangers who kept the food pantries open.

Now? That help is being ripped away right before the holidays because someone in an office decided it was “unaffordable.” Let’s be clear: What’s truly unaffordable is letting children, elders, disabled folks, and working families go hungry in a country where there is always money for war but never enough for bread. I pay taxes. I want my money to feed people, to fund clinics, medication, housing, clean water, public transit, not bombs, not bailouts, not cruelty disguised as “policy.”

People will die if we don’t act.

Not in some distant future now. Kids will go to school hungry. Grandparents will skip meals to afford their medication. People with disabilities will be forced to choose between rent and groceries, warmth or food. In one of the wealthiest nations on earth, hunger is not a mystery or an accident. It is a policy choice, and it’s being made right now.

We cannot let this stand. We cannot go quiet, scroll past, or let it become another headline. If you are able, donate to your local food pantry.

If you have a little extra, send it to a mutual aid fund in your area. Share your surplus, check on your neighbors, drop off a grocery card or a few cans. If you need help, please reach out. There are people who care, and there are resources, even if it feels impossible.

Here are ways you can help, or get help:

National:

• Feeding America: Find a local food pantry near you
• Food Finder: An interactive map to locate food assistance programs
• USDA National Hunger Hotline: A hotline of volunteers that will help you find food resources in your area
• FindHelp.org: An online database to find local food pantries

Local:

More often than not, you’ll find resources based on the county, town or city you live in. For Gettysburg, PA we have:

• SCCAP (South Central Community Action Program) – Throughout Adams and York counties.
  • The Gleaning Project
• Adams County, PA Government
• Adams County Food Policy Council
• Casa Gettysburg
• Gettysburg Community Soup Kitchen
• Gettysburg Baptist Church
• Chapel Hill Church of God (I think they moved to York Springs, though)

Local Facebook groups often organize grocery drop-offs or rides to pantries. Search “mutual aid [your town/county]” or “[your county] food bank.”

If you have other resources, feel free to drop them in the comments and put them on the Mutual Aid by State category on our forum, The Campfire. Let’s make this a living list. It might help someone.

We are not powerless. We are not alone. But we must be louder than the politicians who want us to be hungry and invisible. This is not charity’s solidarity. It’s survival. I will not stay quiet, and I hope you won’t either.

Feed people. Always. Everything else can wait.