United Way of the Flint Hills (UWFH) plans on assembling a team for food relief, particularly in response to SNAP benefits possibly halting in November. Daphne Mertens, UWFH Director, said that the team is meant to help those in greater risk of hunger due to likely SNAP cuts.
“There are a lot of community members here in Emporia, Lyon County, and all eight counties that United Way serves that will be going without food,” Mertens said. “We want to see what we can do to lead the effort to make sure we feed people who are hungry.”
According to the Kansas Department for Children and Families, if no federal action is taken regarding the government shutdown by October 28, November SNAP benefits will not be released until a resolution is taken. That could affect 188,000 Kansas residents, and thousands inside UWFH’s coverage region.
Mertens said that calls have steadily increased concerning UWFH’s resources.
“We also see an increased number of calls to our 211 resource line in our office at United Way, of people who are struggling with a multitude of different issues, housing, homelessness, being able to pay their rent, being able to keep their lights on, and now food is becoming an ever-present issue of people,” Mertens said.
UWFH has begun reaching out to agency partners throughout the area to address the increase in food needs brought about by SNAP cuts. Mertens anticipates starting the Food Relief Rapid Response Team as soon as possible.
“I'm hoping that we can get a lot of our key partners who are working with people who are food insecure or working in the food system in some way,” Mertens said. “Most of the players from the Lyon County Food and Farm Council and our Healthier Lyon County Coalition will be involved in some way and we're hoping to get anyone else on board who is interested in helping us solve this food crisis.”
The Rapid Response Team coincides with UWFH’s annual Thanksgiving Food Drive, which aids food insecure families by raising funds for Thanksgiving Meals. Those interested in contributing can either donate $40 to UWFH at https://www.unitedwayoftheflinthills.org/ or shop for a list of items, found on the UWFH Facebook page.
Anyone wishing to join the Food Relief Rapid Response Team can contact Mertens at info@uwfh.org or call 620-342-7564.
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By: Amanda Davis | October 27th, 2025