Kristin’s Remarks on SNAP Benefits and Child Hunger

I remember showing up to a family’s home where food was often scarce. I remember the frantic call about a SNAP deposit —their lifeline to groceries that week.

I grew up hearing about “food stamps,” something that other people used. But as I grew to love and work with this family, SNAP benefits became very personal to me. 

It wasn’t about “others.” It was about people I knew—friends whose children relied on that card for breakfast and dinner, even though it still never felt like enough.

We eventually figured it out—an issue with the electronic deposit—but when I heard about the November 1st deadline and the reality that so many Utah families might suddenly lose their benefits, my heart sank. Because I can still see those kids’ faces.

Across Utah, tens of thousands of children wake up every day unsure if there will be food on the table. These are working families, and now, with federal SNAP benefits ending because of the government shutdown, we’re facing a true crisis—one that’s invisible until you step into the kitchen of a struggling family or the line at a food pantry. 

This isn’t about politics. This is about kids. “SNAP was never meant to be a lifestyle—it’s a lifeline for families who are working hard, doing their best, and just need a bridge through tough times.”

Utah has always been a state of neighbors helping neighbors. We love to show up with casseroles, with snow shovels, with kindness. Now we need to show up with food, mostly with dollars—putting our love for our neighbor into ACTION.

The Utah Food Bank and dozens of community organizations are stepping up, but they can’t do it alone. We need everyone—from families to businesses to faith congregations—to rally in these next few weeks to fill the gap.

As a mom of six, I can’t imagine tucking my kids into bed knowing they went hungry. And yet, for too many parents, that’s the reality tonight.

When we talk about “childhood hunger,” it can sound abstract. But it’s not. It’s your child’s friend, it’s your neighbor, it’s someone on your child's soccer team or someone in your church congregation. This a child who can't concentrate on their 3rd grade spelling test or their 8th grade science homework. 

And we can make sure these kids, our kids, don’t go hungry.

So today, as we stand here together—community members, nonprofits, businesses, faith leaders, and families—let’s be the bridge. Let’s be the hope.

Because feeding kids shouldn’t be a debate. It should be our shared responsibility —and our shared joy.

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Utah has always been a state of neighbors helping neighbors. We love to show up with casseroles, with snow shovels, with kindness.

Now we need to show up with food, mostly with dollars-putting our love for our neighbor into ACTION!

The Utah Food Bank and dozens of community organizations are stepping up, but they can’t do it alone. We need everyone! From families to businesses to faith congregations to rally in these next few weeks to fill the gap.

Utah Week of Giving starts tomorrow morning. Will you join me? Share on your neighborhood group chat, with your faith congregation, with your friends and family.