MILWAUKEE, Wis. — In Wisconsin, more than 700,000 people are waiting to learn if their food benefits will be cut off. That includes students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The need for help is more dire than ever at UWM. The university's food pantry typically sees hundreds of students a month. However, since the announcement that SNAP benefits are coming to an end, more students than ever before have been coming for help.
For UWM sophomore Cadler Dahiti, the government shutdown could be detrimental.
"There's a lot of people I know, including me myself, that come from low-income housing, and we had to make use of SNAP benefits and food stamps," Dahiti said.
Dahiti is from Beloit and said his family has used SNAP for years. With that funding stopping Saturday, he's been planning ahead.
"I do plan on kinda making use of the food pantry here on campus because those benefits are going away, and I don't want to be a burden on my mother," Dahiti explained.
It's a resource hundreds of students use monthly. UWM Basic Needs Coordinator Allie Martinez said the numbers are climbing rapidly.
Watch: UWM students brace for potential SNAP benefit cuts as food pantry demand surges
"We saw 761 in September, and in October we're over 1,000," Martinez said.
That's about a 30% increase in one month.
"I think in general, as we all know, grocery prices are very high right now; it's getting harder and harder for college students to be able to afford housing, food, just those basic necessities, and we're also looking at the issues with the SNAP benefits right now," Martinez said.
As demand increases, supply is struggling to keep up. The food pantry shelves show the strain - no pasta available, no canned meats like tuna or canned chicken, and soup supplies running low.
A dire situation for students is now turning into an even more desperate one for those trying to help.
"We're asking folks to host food drives if they're able, make monetary donations if we need to," Martinez said. "Our monetary donations go further, for every $1 that's donated, we're able to purchase $10 in groceries."
Donations, students say, they appreciate and will be put to good use.
"It means that the campus cares, it's proof that the campus cares," Dahiti said.
With federal funding stopping, UWM staff expect to see even more students using resources like the food pantry. People can help stock the food pantry through monetary donations online through UWM.
This story was reported on-air by Jenna Rae and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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