The following message was sent to clergy and vestry members via email on Friday, October 31, 2025.
Clergy and Vestry Leaders,
Tomorrow, without action by our federal government, millions of people across our country (approximately 1.45 million people in Ohio) will lose access to SNAP food assistance benefits. While politicians use hunger as a bargaining chip, we will witness the impact of this action: the impact in our neighborhoods, the impact in our food pantries and feeding programs, and perhaps even the impact in our own homes, within our own families.
In the meantime, our pantries are bracing for increased need amid already-reduced access to food. As church leaders, you may already be in conversation with your outreach ministers and local partners. To that end, I want to share the following with you:
- Emergency Funding Assistance
I’ve asked my staff to identify funding that can quickly be put to use to address the increased need for our neighbors who no longer have access to SNAP benefits. These funds would be available upon request for congregations in Southern Ohio that are running food pantries, feeding ministries, or have a significant partnership with a local hunger relief organization. That is in process now, and I expect a request form to become available no later than the end of next week (November 7th). - Zoom Check-in on Wednesday, Nov. 5
If your church runs a food pantry, feeding ministry, or has a significant partnership in place with a hunger relief organization, please join us and invite your ministry’s point-persons to join me on Wednesday, November 5th for an 11:30 am Zoom call. We will talk together about what you anticipate for local need, and discuss ways to support one another in love and action. Please pre-register for that call using this link.
If you have any questions, please contact Canon Katie Forsyth at kforsyth@diosohio.org.
Yours in Christ,
The Rt. Rev. Kristin Uffelman White
Bishop
Diocese of Southern Ohio
