This story by Liz Sauchelli was first published in the Valley News on Nov. 13, 2025.
WINDSOR — The federal shutdown ended late Wednesday night with a bill that extends the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP benefits, through the end of next September.
Even in spite of the restoration of these benefits, however, those who use SNAP and those who work to address food insecurity in the Upper Valley remain concerned about the program’s future.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty,” Maria Rogers, who, to supplement her SNAP benefits, uses and volunteers at the food pantry at Trinity Free Evangelical Church in downtown Windsor. “Not just a little. A lot.”
Rogers and others interviewed this week before the shutdown ended said that their concerns would persist even after the shutdown ended.
When the shutdown started on Oct. 1, the federal government paused SNAP payments for Rogers and millions of others who receive the monthly benefit. States tried to make up the difference, but the uncertainty and lack of payments led to growing food insecurity for residents.
Each month, when Rogers, a 65-year-old Windsor resident, gets $166 from SNAP, she starts looking at what area grocery stores have on sale. Then, she asks herself a question: “Is the gas worth it?”
This month that math was harder to do because of the delay in SNAP benefits. Rogers received half — $83 — from the state of Vermont on Nov. 7, but she had yet to receive the remainder. (A Vermont official told lawmakers on Thursday that a full month’s benefits were set to go to recipients on Friday via Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, though the process could take until Monday for direct deposit into bank accounts.)
Rogers and her husband are both disabled. She has also volunteered and cooked meals for Upper Valley food pantries for close to 40 years.
“Oh no,” Rogers, of Windsor, said when asked if the money covers her monthly grocery bills. “Especially if you get meat, that barely covers for a month.”
The number of families the Trinity food shelf serves in Windsor has grown by about a third over the last couple of months, said Nan Pariseau, a church member who also serves as operations director for the food shelf.
“We’ve been expecting it,” Pariseau, 56, of Claremont, said during an interview at the food pantry. “We’ve been preparing for it.”
Fall and the upcoming holiday season are typically busy for food pantries. The colder temperatures and shorter days mean fuel and electricity costs rise. Children are home from school for vacations and families are trying to create special holiday memories. Even with SNAP benefits fully restored, those other stressors do not go away, Pariseau said. “It’s a storm brewing,” she said.
The Trinity food pantry is averaging 52 families per week. Usually the number is around 34 families per week, with more showing up toward the end of the month as SNAP benefits run low. Many of the new patrons are older adults with one- or two-person households and families with more than five people. “Those are the ones that are really struggling,” Pariseau said.
The Trinity food pantry spends around $2,500 a month on food and is projected to spend about 15% more than that this month, Pariseau said.
She has been applying for more grants, in addition to working with other community groups and food pantries. She and food pantry volunteers are also working to spread the word that Trinity’s doors are open for anyone in need. “The biggest barrier we have is shame,” Pariseau said. She noted that she used SNAP herself years ago while she was raising three children and going through a divorce.
Shame shouldn’t be a barrier, said Shawn Dennett, a Windsor resident and single father of two children, ages 11 and 9, who volunteers at the Trinity food pantry. He uses SNAP to help feed his children. “How am I going to do this?” was his first thought Dennett, 38, said when the shutdown started. “I told my kids that whatever is in the apartment, you guys have at it.”
When his children asked him what he would do, he said he’d manage. He and his family got $287 in SNAP benefits on Nov. 7, half of their usual allotment, and are making it work, including by using the food pantry.
“It’s scary,” he said about the uncertainty surrounding SNAP. “After this shutdown … even if it does get lifted, going forward, what’s going to happen?”
Dennett works as a landscaper during the warmer months, but the jobs dry up as it gets colder. He also wants to be able to spend time with his children, including being home when they get home from school and to cook dinner for them every night.
Pasta dishes are a hit and his 11-year-old son is a fan of T-bone steak. Some nights, when he’s too tired to cook or had a rough day at work, the kids get microwavable Chef Boyardee ravioli cups as a treat. Meat takes up the biggest share of the budget, Dennett said, and he’s noticed costs are rising. He noted that eggs and dairy products have also gone up in price.
“SNAP is out there to help families,” he said.
Food pantries are too. Dennett is a member of Trinity Evangelical Free Church. “I was a little wary at first” to use the food pantry, but thinks differently now. “Nobody needs to go hungry,” he said.
Many patrons are older and some struggle to prepare meals for themselves. Others are working multiple jobs while caring for family members and don’t have the time.
“A lot of people want prepared food,” Rogers said. She cooks using items donated or purchased by the food pantry. Beef Stroganoff, spaghetti with sauce, macaroni and cheese and salmon pea wiggle are among the more popular dishes. The food shelf prepares meals that are portioned out that people can then take home to heat up later.
Patrons who liked a dish often ask for the recipe. Sometimes, Rogers will teach them how to cook it in Trinity’s kitchen.
Each year, the food pantry puts together 65 Thanksgiving baskets — filled with all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal — and as of Wednesday had 91 families signed up, with the Nov. 14 deadline a few days away. Panty staff are currently working on figuring out how to get turkeys, which cost around $15 each, for each of the baskets.
“We are digging deep,” Pariseau said.
The community is as well. The food pantry has seen an influx in donations. There are some products that are harder to come by and more expensive that patrons need, including gluten-free items. Many of the older patrons are coping with health challenges and need low-sodium and sugar-free options. There’s also a need for canned fruit and cooking oils.
“They really need more fruits and vegetables in their lives but if they can’t afford it, they should come here and get it,” said Ginny Barr, 75, of Reading, a longtime food pantry volunteer. She noted that there are no barriers to getting help: the food pantry does not ask patrons for income information or other proof that they’re in need.
“They’re here for a reason,” Barr said at the food pantry. “They’ve got their reasons. We don’t have [to] know their reasons. We just serve them.”
Even before the shutdown, other Upper Valley food pantries were experiencing similar increases: In the last year, the Upper Valley Haven has seen a 20% increase in patrons, said Jennifer Fontaine, director of operations at the White River Junction-based nonprofit organization. “In October 2025 alone, there were 2,099 visits — a 16% increase over September’s numbers, continuing a steady rise that began in August,” she wrote in an email.
The Haven saw 108 new households in October and another 103 households who hadn’t stopped by in more than a year — “[c]lear signs that many neighbors are still struggling with high costs and ongoing financial strain,” Fontaine wrote.
To meet patrons increased needs, the Haven ran a fundraising campaign. Food donations are still needed, including items such as cooking oils, spices, baking supplies, shelf-stable milk and jams or jellies. “Many individuals and groups have reached out to host food drives or volunteer, and we hope that enthusiasm continues even when the government reopens and SNAP benefits resume,” Fontaine wrote. “With food and consumer costs remaining high, the need for assistance will still be there.”
