The Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market recognizes the vital role that SNAP benefits play in supporting both our community members and local producers. Last weeks interruption in SNAP benefits would created real and immediate challenges for many households who depend on this assistance to access fresh, healthy, locally grown food.
Our markets thrive on inclusivity and connection—SNAP shoppers are an essential part of that fabric. A loss of benefits would not only deepen food insecurity for many families but also impact the small farms and food producers who rely on these sales to sustain their livelihoods.
Thanks to swift action from our staff and board we were able to support individuals and families who are on SNAP in accessing $40 of credit to shop at the market each day regardless of their benefits balance!
We distributed $22,640 in additional food support to our community! Full Breakdown Below:
$11,760 in Double Up Food Bucks, Thank you to Farmers Market Fund for funding this program!
$5,000 in Protein Match, Thank you to All Care Health, for funding this program!
$5,880 in Emergency Market Money, Thank you to those who donated to support this program!
We raised over $2,125 in donations from our community and RVGCM committed the additional $3,755 to cover the immediate need to cover the SNAP gap last week in Emergency Market Money. The response was incredible and we could not have done it without support from community donations and our grant funders.
HUGE THANK YOU to all who contributed to support our community. Additionally our pop up pantry was incredibly popular and thank you to anyone who donated goods to support this effort.
Now what will happen since SNAP has been distributed to all Oregonians?
RVGCM will continue to host our pop up pantry at all markets this year, we welcome anyone take what they need and welcome donations from those who are able. In addition we will continue to offer enhanced match for Double Up Food Bucks. This means for $2 off your SNAP card* you can access $20 of DUFB match once per market day! This boost will continue through November 30th.
*Because our SNAP tokens are in $2 increments we must charge $2 minimum for SNAP transactions. Thank you!
