South Carolina's more than 549,000 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, recipients will see their federal food assistance benefits issued as soon as Friday, Nov. 14.
The United States Department of Agriculture instructed the state's Department of Social Services Thursday to "begin issuing full" November SNAP benefits, according to a news release from the state department. November's benefits were withheld through the federal government shutdown that ended as the longest-ever shutdown in the county's history.
President Donald Trump signed a federal funding bill Wednesday evening that funds the government through the end of January and funds SNAP through Sept. 30, 2026, which is end of the fiscal year.
Still, benefits and EBT cards will not reload on the same day for all Palmetto State SNAP recipients, which is typical even without a historic shutdown.
People who receive their benefits from the first to the 14th of the month will finally find their food assistance fully available Friday. And newly approved SNAP households whose benefits were authorized from Oct. 16 to Nov. 13 will also see their EBT cards loaded Friday, according to the South Carolina Department of Social Services.
SCDSS reported in its monthly SNAP Participation report 263,545 households received SNAP benefits in October. Anyone who gets their benefits between the 15th and 19th of the month should expect them to come on the typical scheduling.
While the shutdown was still in place, South Carolina directed the Central Carolina Community Foundation to activate the One SC Fund, which collects donations during times of need. This activation was meant to help food banks with funding and stock as demand heightened, and the shutdown's end could not be predicted.
As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the fund had collected $328,704 in contributions from 683 donors, according to CCCF's President and CEO Georgia Mjartan. She said a majority of the donations came from individuals instead of organizations, which was slightly unusual compared to previous drives.
The fund had previously been activated as a COVID-19 pandemic response and for hurricane relief efforts. The Hurricane Helene relief fund collection saw $1 million donated within 48 hours, according to Mjartan.
Of the collected funds, $200,000 has already been distributed to the state's four major food banks; Harvest Hope, Golden Harvest, Lowcountry Food Bank and Second Harvest received the aid. And although Mjartan said the funding was not given out evenly to each food bank, the team ensured at least $45,000 was distributed to each resource.
Harvest Hope CEO Erinn Rowe said the food bank received about $69,000 from the fund. She thanked funding partners outside of the statewide drive for their direct contributions.
"It's not a hurricane, it's not a flood, it's not a global pandemic," she said. "We've been flooded with calls and people stopping by wanting to do food drives to help feed our neighbors."
Rowe hoped a similar situation would not arise should the federal government shut down in the future.
"Let's not use food as bait," she said.
Mjartan and the One SC Fund anticipated a few more "large gifts that have been committed to come in Thursday or Friday." The donations should push total fund contributions to at least $400,000, and a second wave of disbursements will surf to the four major food banks.
The fund will then close after Gov. Henry McMaster's office confirms to the CCCF that SNAP benefits were disbursed. The governor's office verified this process would take place.
"We will know that the fund has done the work that it was created to do when South Carolinians see their SNAP card reloaded — when they have the ability to buy food for their children, for their family members," Mjartan said.
McMaster said the One SC Fund operated as intended and showcased the generosity of South Carolinians.
"I think the One SC Fund has showed that it's vibrant — it's there. It can be snapped into action very quickly, and it also shows that people are in our state who want to help," he said in a conversation with reporters.
