Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the Virginia Cares Initiative, a statewide food drive aimed at helping Virginians affected by the federal government shutdown.
Through the program, residents can sign up to donate food and funds to Virginia’s seven regional food banks. Donors receive a list of high-demand items, drop-off locations, and operating hours. The initiative targets those not covered by Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance (VENA), the state’s temporary replacement for SNAP.
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“Thousands of families—including federal workers and newly eligible SNAP recipients—are struggling to make ends meet,” Youngkin said. “The Virginia Cares Initiative ensures our communities can step up to bridge that gap, especially as we approach Thanksgiving.”
Additional State Support for Food Banks
Last week, Youngkin announced $1 million in additional state funding for Virginia’s food banks to meet rising demand.
VENA: Virginia’s SNAP Replacement
To offset the loss of federal SNAP benefits, Virginia created VENA. Funds are loaded onto recipients’ existing EBT cards and distributed weekly—on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday—based on their usual SNAP schedule (1st, 4th, or 7th of the month).
Each recipient will receive a full month’s worth of SNAP benefits over the course of 4 weeks. The reason benefits are paid weekly, according to the governor, is there’s a hope the government shutdown may not continue for the whole month. But if it does, “we must ensure our most vulnerable Virginians are not without basic nutrition,” said Youngkin.
The governor committed to continue VENA at least for the full month of November. What will happen beyond that if full SNAP benefits haven’t been restored hasn’t been announced.
The governor declared a state of emergency allowing him to access Virginia’s budget surplus and fund this program. According to his administration, Virginia is the only state currently providing SNAP replacement benefits through a state-run initiative.
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