Chattanooga Area Food Bank says city emergency funding helped meet SNAP-disruption surge

Melissa Blevins, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, told the Chattanooga City Council that city emergency funding and volunteer mobilization let the agency respond almost overnight when federal SNAP benefits were disrupted.

"Because of your support, thank you to you and the mayor, we were able to respond in real time to the highest needs," Blevins said, describing extended pantry hours and additional distributions. She said the food bank invested 25% of the city's funds directly into local pantries and supported the Foxwood Food Center and other partner sites.

Blevins gave several quantitative updates: she said roughly 60,000 neighbors in Chattanooga and Hamilton County may not know where their next meal is coming from tonight, including about 15,000 children, and that food costs have risen about 25% since 2020. During the 13 days of the SNAP disruption, the food bank saw a roughly 40% surge in people seeking assistance, she said.

Council members asked for local, ZIP-level detail in the food-security estimates. Councilman Elliott asked how large the surge was; Blevins replied, "In the 4 in the 13 days that snap disruption was occurring, we saw 40% surge." Chairwoman Hill asked staff to follow up on ZIP-code-specific numbers; Blevins agreed to provide more information by email.

Why it matters: council's emergency allocation in November enabled local organizations to bridge a federal benefits interruption. The council did not take any formal action during the presentation, but members thanked volunteers and the food bank and asked for more granular data to inform future responses.

What comes next: Blevins invited council and residents to volunteer and pledged continued partnership with city leadership to meet hunger needs.