More than 556,000 Palmetto State SNAP users are set to not receive their November food assistance benefits. The One SC Fund has been activated to pick-up a portion of the slack while the federal government shutdown continues and benefits will not be distributed.
Gov. Henry McMaster, food bank leaders and the Central Carolina Community Foundation announced the statewide funding drive during a Tuesday morning press conference at the South Carolina Emergency Management Division building.
Administered by the Central Carolina Community Foundation, the fund will help support local food banks amidst the upcoming increase in demand. McMaster said he's calling on residents to donate as they would during a natural disaster; McMaster urged South Carolinians to make donations.
"This is not the time for regular help," he said. "This is the time for something extraordinary."
Food banks and feeding programs work all throughout South Carolina's 46 counties. Some — like Golden Harvest in six counties and Harvest Hope in the Midlands, the Upstate and Pee Dee — had representatives speak Tuesday morning.
The One SC Fund will not begin with any pooled funds. It is a donation-based program specifically meant to help food banks work through the anticipated halt in SNAP benefit distribution. And funds from previous One SC Fund drives, such as money gathered to help with Hurricane Helene relief, will be unusable for the new effort while the state still works on long-time hurricane relief.
Harvest Hope CEO Erinn Rowe spoke at Tuesday's conference. She said donations are essential to continued food bank functions but was not sure how to feasibly make up the difference.
"It's just a matter of math," she said.
South Carolinians received approximately $104 million in September SNAP benefits, according to data from the South Carolina Department of Social Services. A July 2025 report from the One SC Fund said Hurricane Helene relief efforts gathered just more than $6 million in nine months.
A combination of SNAP benefit interruptions and the upcoming holiday season has food bank leaders especially alarmed. Rowe said the three Harvest Hope warehouses in Florence, Greenville and Columbia are running bare.
"South Carolinians do take care of each other, and that's what we're calling on right now," she said.
Priscilla Elliot, a public affairs specialist with Golden Harvest food bank, said she's hopeful a holiday "ramp-up" and season attracts donors.
"They [SNAP recipients] really need the assistance, and they've needed it before," she said. "Now, it's more dire."
Golden Harvest operates in six counties including Aiken, Allendale and Barnwell. More than 25% of residents in Allendale and Barnwell Counties received SNAP benefits in September. Any leftover SNAP benefits from October will still be usable.
Gov. McMaster said he will not declare a state of emergency as was done in Virginia and requested in a letter by Democrat State Rep. Hamilton Grant.
McMaster did, however, direct the South Carolina State Guard to assist food banks with distribution and traffic flow.
This most recent One SC Fund activation will be its sixth use in ten years. McMaster said in theory, the South Carolina General Assembly could call itself in and appropriate funds, but the funding drive response is more streamlined.
"We're ready to go — we're wide open — and all we need is people to step forward," he said.
