This interview originally aired on 10/31/2025 on South Texas Midday.
ROB BOSCAMP: SNAP benefits for 42 million people in the country will be cut beginning tomorrow due to the government shutdown, and that has taken a toll on families and the institutions that provide those resources. Joining me on South Texas Midday is Robin Cadle, President and CEO of Food Bank of the Golden Crescent, which services in an area that includes Victoria, Goliad and Calhoun counties. Robin, great to have you on South Texas Midday. Thank you for taking the time to join us.
ROBIN CADLE: It's good to be here. Thanks for calling.
ROB BOSCAMP: Of course, the SNAP food benefits are going to be suspended beginning tomorrow due to the government shutdown. How much of an increase does the food bank expect to see with food assistance requests once those benefits are halted?
ROBIN CADLE: I don't really know what to expect. I know that in Victoria, well, in our service area of 11 counties, we have potentially over 19,000 families that are on the SNAP benefits program. So across our 11 counties, I'm sure we're going to see a longer increase in our line and more people coming to the food pantries.
ROB BOSCAMP: Are any services going to be affected by the increase in demand and the possible limited supply that going to limit how much is being distributed?
ROBIN CADLE: Absolutely that's going to place additional strain on already limited resources that we have during COVID and hurricanes and stuff like that, we have a whole lot more food to pass out. That's not going to be the case right now. So people will get less because that's what we have. We remain committed to serving, but the need is growing so much faster than our resources,
ROB BOSCAMP: And you can only do so much with what you have currently right
ROBIN CADLE: Right because earlier in the year our federal commodities have been reduced by 42 percent so we're getting 42 percent less food from the federal government than we've gotten in the past, with that situation already happening. And then you can see where that leads us.
ROB BOSCAMP: Does the food bank have any projections on what the distribution and or turnout is going to look like on this first week once benefits are suspended?
ROBIN CADLE: I don't have a clue, but I know we've seen an uptick and registration and phone calls.
ROB BOSCAMP: What is being done by the community to help out at this time?
ROBIN CADLE: Our community has been doing food drives, and people have been coming in making monetary donations. The community is coming in to volunteer. They're working on food drives to help bring in additional food and we have donors who are coming, stepping up and donating all of this together. This is what they normally do on a regular basis. Some of them have increased their donation. Some have added more food drives than they normally do. But this time of the year usually creates quite a bit of food drive
ROB BOSCAMP: Is there any way to gauge if there's an increase in first time givers as well.
ROBIN CADLE: There is, but it will not be for several months that when we run that report
ROB BOSCAMP: For someone who's listening to this and they want to help, what could they do to offer that assistance?
ROBIN CADLE: The best thing for every food bank in the state of Texas right now is monetary donations that helps us purchase food. We can purchase food a lot cheaper than they can go out to the grocery store and buy soups and stuff like that. So the monetary donations go the furthest they can do food drives. But that is also labor intensive for us. We have to sort through that, check the cans, make sure everything's okay, repackage and. Put in boxes for our inventory. There's not any one particular food that's flying off the shelf faster than others. There's always a great need for cereal, soups, ready to eat products, but primarily shelf stable.
ROB BOSCAMP: What could residents do if they're in a situation where they know they need help?
ROBIN CADLE: In our area, we encourage people to call the food bank at (361) 578-0591, they will be asked what county they're living in. Then we'll direct them to the food pantries that are in that area. Or if we have a mobile distribution, we will send them over so that we can get them registered. We're registering people for mobile distribution, but we also have to let people know that our mobile distribution, you have to be registered, and it's first come, first serve, and it's while supplies last, so we don't have unending supplies. Anything else that you would like to add? We just appreciate the community support and patience as we all navigate these new environments, and hope that it gets resolved soon.
ROB BOSCAMP: That is Robin Cadle president and CEO of Food Bank of the Golden Crescent, Robin. Thank you so much for your time.
ROBIN CADLE: We appreciate you calling and helping us share our story. Many of the food banks were all kind of in the same situation with our communities. Our communities are resilient, but with the need outpacing the resources, it makes it difficult.
ROB BOSCAMP: That is Robin Cadle, President and CEO of Food Bank of the Golden Crescent, which services households in Victoria and surrounding counties, beginning tomorrow snap, funding will be sunset for many of those households and millions across the country.
