ATLANTA — The divided U.S. House of Representatives is in the process of discussing President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending cuts package — known as the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act — and how it will affect assistance programs in Georgia.
Channel 2’s Karyn Greer went to the Atlanta Community Food Bank to get some answers about what they say they’re facing.
“We’re in one of the largest food bank distribution centers in the country right here in Atlanta,” Kyle Waide, Atlanta Community Food Bank CEO, said. “We have millions of pounds of food inventory that is ready to go out to our partners who can then get it on the tables of our neighbors across the community.”
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Waide walked Channel 2 Action News through the food bank, which distributes food to 29 counties across Georgia.
“A few months ago, USDA announced about $1 billion worth of cuts to food purchasing programs across the country,” Waide said. “For us locally, that amounts to about $15 million worth of food that would have come to us about 300 truckloads.”
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The 345,000-square-foot warehouse in East Point is where partner organizations deliver and pick up food to take across the metro area.
They told Greer they’d seen a 60% increase in need in the community, from people who never needed them to help before.
“If you’re a family, earning $50,000, $60,000 a year, you don’t qualify for benefits,” Waide said. “You’re spending an extra $100 a week on gas and groceries. Well, that’s 10% of your after-tax income that you’re now having to replace just to stay even.”
Waide said he had a message for lawmakers when it came to the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.
“We need Congress to think about not moving forward with these big cuts to SNAP,” Waide said. “We need to protect SNAP, and at this moment of economic uncertainty, really think about the families who are vulnerable right now, who need our support. And then we need the community to be engaged.”
Waide said they clear out the warehouse in East Point every three weeks and the demand is great. He said they need donations and volunteers.
To learn more about volunteering or helping in other ways, head online here.
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