The Kenai Peninsula Food Bank will host a SNAP Outreach program from noon to 4:00 p.m. this Thursday and Friday to help everyone apply for and prepare for SNAP benefits!
KPFB Executive Director Greg Meyer said the food bank started offering this event because of the severe snap backlog.
Part of the problem is that filling out SNAP applications can be confusing. If an individual has an issue with the application, the hold times over the phone to get someone to help you can be hours. Not everyone has the time or money to do so. Hence, this is why an event like this is so helpful to the community.
“They have snap specialists that work for the food bank [of Alaska], and they come down and in our folks can sit down with ssomebody live face to face and work through whatever it is they need to. It’s been an awesome, awesome thing that they’re willing to come down and it’s been awesome for our community because people can talk to somebody instead of either dealing with online thing or on the phone,” said Meyer.
Meyer says that at least one Snap Specialist will be present at the food bank during the open hours. No fee or registration is required to get help, so all individuals need to do is show up, ask questions, and fill out some paperwork.
“They can just show up, and that will be taken care of before the end of the day. We try to keep our hours over when we do the meal and when we do the distribution, don’t have to make a second trip that people do, and we’re trying to make it available when they would probably be coming for a meal or food anyway,” said Meyer.
Meyer understands that texting, emailing, or being put on hold over the phone can be difficult. So he hopes that having an in-person communication can resolve their problems a lot quicker and be more beneficial in the long run.
“We’ve heard nothing but positives about being able to come down and talk to somebody and also how quickly things can get resolved when you’re there face to face with somebody and don’t have to look something up and get back to, or however that process would go for them,” said Meyer.
