<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596481208709.jpeg" alt="Harvesters, a private food bank, saw the amount of food distributed increase from 54 million pounds in 2019 to 65 million in 2020. In this picture, food is distributed at a drive-in in Kansas City, Kansas. (Harvesters — The Community Food Network)" />
 <figcaption>Harvesters, a private food bank, saw the amount of food distributed increase from 54 million pounds in 2019 to 65 million in 2020. In this picture, food is distributed at a drive-in in Kansas City, Kansas. (Harvesters — The Community Food Network)</figcaption>
 </figure>By NOAH TABORDA <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/08/01/food-insecurity-rates-rising-amid-covid-19-kansas-advocates-call-for-assistance/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Haley Kottler 
sees firsthand desperation of young families struggling to put food on 
the table as the economy wilts under the COVID-19 pandemic.She understands the lifeline offered by the federally funded <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program">Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program</a>, a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that delivers food benefits nationwide.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596481276548.png" alt="Haley Kottler during a panel on the need for SNAP boosts from Congress, June 28, 2020 (Noah Taborda/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Haley Kottler during a panel on the need for SNAP boosts from Congress, June 28, 2020 (Noah Taborda/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>“Families often depend on 
school lunches, and SNAP picks up the slack without them,” Kottler said.
 “I know a single mother who was able to continue to pay her utilities 
and keep the internet on so her daughter could continue her schoolwork 
because of the flexibility provided.”Kotter works for Kansas 
Appleseed, a statewide advocacy group working to provide access to 
affordable food and housing. She said when Gov. Laura Kelly closed 
schools to slow the spread of COVID-19, it left many families requiring 
extra assistance from programs like SNAP.SNAP affords qualifying 
low-income families targeted and temporary food benefits to get them 
through difficult periods. It is also known as the Food Assistance 
Program in Kansas.Amid the pandemic, food 
insecurity rates are rising and the number of SNAP recipients in Kansas 
has skyrocketed from just under 190,000 in February to over 213,000 in 
June, a more than 12% increase. Expenditures rose to nearly $40 million 
in the month of June, a 95% increase.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596481308150.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Numbers nationwide have followed suit, with more than 54 million people expected to<a href="https://www.feedingamericaaction.org/the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-food-insecurity/"> experience food insecurity due to COVID-19</a>.“We’ve seen millions of 
people across the county struggling to put food on the table, as 
unemployment rises and food prices increase, turning to SNAP,” said Luis
 Guardia, president of the Food Research and Action Center, during a 
panel discussion Wednesday on the importance of increasing SNAP program 
boosts.Last month, 2,500 organizations from every state <a href="https://frac.org/wp-content/uploads/FINAL-Senate-Letter_18June2020.pdf">signed a letter</a>
 asking Congress to boost the maximum snap benefit by 15% and to 
increase the minimum monthly benefit from $16 to $30. Kottler joined 
Guardia and several other advocates from across the United States to 
voice displeasure for a lack of such action in the US. Senate Majority 
Leader Mitch McConnell’s latest proposed COVID-19 relief package.“With the uncertainty 
surrounding school scheduling, unemployment payments set to drop from 
$600 back to $200, this crisis will only continue to worsen, and more 
families will turn to SNAP,” Kottler said. “We need deep investment and 
care in the program as the situation potentially worsens.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596481328931.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>According to the Feeding America study<a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/research/coronavirus-hunger-research"> “The Impact of Coronavirus on Food Insecurity,”</a> Kansas’ projected overall food insecurity rate for 2020 is 17.7%. That marks a 5% increase since 2018.Karen Siebert, public 
policy and advocacy adviser for Harvester’s — The Community Food 
Network, a food bank serving 16 counties in Kansas, said these numbers 
are troubling for organizations like hers.“Our agencies have seen an
 average 40% increase in those coming in for help since the pandemic 
began,” Siebert said. “The problem isn’t going away for these people, 
and these supports, <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/07/31/14000-attempts-balky-technology-expiring-benefits-worry-workers-state-leaders/">like unemployment</a>, are all falling away. We’re worried we’ll see another influx of people.”From the 2019 fiscal year 
to fiscal year 2020, Harvesters saw a 20% increase in the amount of food
 distributed. In addition, as food donations plummeted, Harvesters spent
 $1.8 million during the 2020 fiscal year, as opposed to just $100,000 
in 2019, Siebert said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596481366813.jpeg" alt="Karen Siebert, a public policy and advocacy adviser for Harvester’s, said while Harvesters was prepared for the initial surge at the beginning of the pandemic, a continued demand for food at this rate is unsustainable. (Submitted)" />
 <figcaption>Karen Siebert, a public policy and advocacy adviser for Harvester’s, said while Harvesters was prepared for the initial surge at the beginning of the pandemic, a continued demand for food at this rate is unsustainable. (Submitted)</figcaption>
 </figure>Harvesters’ was prepared 
for the initial rush of pandemic food need, but for food banks who rely 
on donations and volunteers, continued demand at this rate is not a 
viable business model.“We need our volunteers to
 help repackage foods so we can send them out to families, but many of 
them are at-risk, or we just can’t use them in the same way,” Siebert 
said. “Our entire business model has been upended.”That is why Siebert and 
Harvester’s, a private charity, are staunch advocates for public 
programs like SNAP. Siebert said for every meal they provide, SNAP can 
provide nine.“SNAP is a lifeline for so
 many Kansans,” Kottler said. “We need to do more because it’s the best 
way we can mitigate hunger in Kansas.”Noah Taborda started his journalism career in public radio at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri, covering local government and producing an episode of the podcast Show Me The State while earning his bachelor’s degree in radio broadcasting at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Noah then made a short move to Kansas City, Missouri, to work at KCUR as an intern on the talk show Central Standard and then in the newsroom, reporting on daily news and feature stories.

As food insecurity rates rise, Kansas advocates call for assistance