Oh wow—what a wild ride the action-packed EBT Circus has been! Up, down, sideways, and even backwards! The fallout from the political gridlock was heartbreaking and likely kept many people awake at night with worry. But while Congress was locked in a stubborn stalemate last week, hundreds of folks in Oregon mobilized to make food available for those who needed it.
So, what happened?
First of all, our governor made sure that all EBT recipients received their food stamps on Friday, November 7. This required some immediate and nimble action when EBT administrators saw trouble coming down the pike. Undoubtedly there were several intense 24/7 days as IT professionals and others managed an emergency situation with no precedent to draw on. Thank you, Tina!
Then, my friend Geoffrey Brownell of Fossil and I headed to Redmond for the Central Oregon Fill Your Pantry event, a bulk-buying farmer’s market. The beautiful displays of locally grown food piled high on tables were breathtaking against the backdrop of the Sisters Mountains on a sun-shiny day.
I wandered over to the Bend Farmer’s Market booth and learned that even if an EBT recipient had only one dollar left on their card, they could receive $120 worth of tokens to spend. This was made possible with a grant from the Oregon-based Farmer’s Market Fund.
Geoff and I scouted around the perimeter before buying anything, and as we finished our rounds, we realized we hadn’t gone down the center aisle. It was loaded with boxes and bins full of fruits, vegetables, bread, jelly, and meat. As we meandered along, a volunteer handed me a bright blue bag and said “Please help yourself, this food has been donated”. As her words registered, I felt goosebumps then burst into tears. Then she said “This is what community feels like.”
This generosity was made possible by a community-sourced “Fill All Pantries” fundraiser spearheaded by the Bend Farmer’s Market, Central Oregon Fill Your Pantry and the High Desert Food and Farm Alliance. Sweet!
When Geoff and I got back to his house, we unloaded the car which didn’t have an inch of room to spare and spread everything out on the kitchen table and counters. Oh the incredible bounty! We put two empty boxes on chairs for friends who were on EBT and filled them with pears, apples, potatoes, carrots, leeks, shallots, kale, winter squash, parsnips and pumpkins. Sharing the excess was truly heartwarming. Jerry stopped by to witness the whole thing.
All this love and food flowing around makes it hard to see our politicians with Luciferian eyes when the outcomes are Big Beautiful Blessings like this. Yes, God does indeed bless America. And that’s . . . awesome!