S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster is asking people in the state to donate money to help provide for the 550,000 people expected to lose federal food benefits with the cutoff of the SNAP program on Saturday. McMaster said the state is activating its OneSC fund to help backfill missing food aid money. The fund collects private donations from people to help with disasters.
McMaster called for Congress to pass a clean funding bill immediately.
"We're here to address the needs of the people of our state and their safety during this time of trial when the food for a lot of people has been cut off by the dysfunction in Washington," he said.
Erinn Rowe is the CEO of Harvest Hope, South Carolina’s largest food bank. She said inventory is already dangerously low.
"When we're looking at the shutdown, we are actually at a critically low food point right now. That typically happens this time of year going into winter months, going into the holidays. So our shelves are pretty bare across all three of my warehouses in Greenville, Florence, and Columbia," she said.
McMaster also said he’s ordering the South Carolina State Guard to help with distributing food and securing food distribution sites.