The video attached to this story aired on May 20, 2025, during earlier cuts by USDA to food banks.
GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — For the first time since the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) paused its benefits distribution, The Caring Place in Georgetown opened its doors to offer services to those in need.
As the cost of living continues to rise, the nonprofit food pantry has already seen an increase in the number of people seeking assistance in 2025, up 6% year over year to nearly 37,000 through the end of August.
The food pantry hosted a drive-through distribution event Monday, where people lined up hours in advance to receive food.
The Caring Place Programs and Services Director Erin Becnel talked with KXAN’s Tom Miller ahead of the event. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Miller: With SNAP not getting its funding for November, what kind of extra demand do you expect that will place on The Caring Place here?
Becnel: I can tell you that since 2022, the number of people visiting us at The Caring Place for all services has increased. It’s doubled, and in September, we actually broke the record for the number of people coming in. So we’ve already been experiencing that growth. We anticipate with the new SNAP pause that more people will be in need and will come to us for assistance in the food pantry or other services.
Miller: Do you have the resources you need to meet that demand, and are there things that the community can do to help out?
Becnel: Currently, we’ve been able to meet the demands. We receive most of our food, probably about 85%, from the Central Texas Food Bank. We supplement through donations from H-E-B and Costco, but also from the general community at large. Right now, we’re holding our Hunger Free Holidays campaign. We’re asking our community to step up, as they always do, to provide 350,000 pounds of food to support our neighbors. That includes financial donations. One dollar can purchase 11 pounds of food. So our goal right now is to ask the community that started this organization to continue supporting us.
Miller: For people who’ve never been here, how does it work at The Caring Place? How do people go about getting what they need?
Becnel: We have a service area that includes Georgetown and Northern Williamson County. Once a month, people can come in and shop in our food pantry. It’s a full shopping experience where they self-select different items. They’ll typically get about 65 pounds of food, which equates to about $210. It’s a great savings to help them pay a utility bill or offset the loss of those SNAP benefits.
The Caring Place asked people and organizations to host food drives to collect non-perishable food items for Hunger Free Holidays. Financial donations are also welcome.
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