Mobile food pantry comes to LRCC Thursday

As the federal government shutdown is impacting food assistance nationwide, the New Hampshire Food Bank is bringing two mobile food pantries to the Lakes Region this month. The first will be at Lakes Region Community College in Laconia, from 1 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6.

Over 70,000 Granite Staters face a reduced food budget in November, and state funding is supporting the mobile food pantries, available to participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Participants will receive delayed and partial benefit payments onto their cards.

The second NH Food Bank mobile pantry will be held later this month at Tenney Mountain in Plymouth. Another 44 are planned around the state.

NH Food Bank Executive Director Elsy Cipriani said the distributions are first-come, first-served. Recipients will need to show their EBT card or eligibility letter, and will receive a box of shelf-stable food and produce.

Boxes will include whole grains, healthy fat and protein in peanut butter and beans, lean protein such as canned tuna, and fiber. Fruit will be packed in juice, not syrup. There will not be any processed meat, Cipriani said.

According to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, an average of 2,100 Laconia residents receive SNAP funds monthly, with another 5,200 recipients around the Lakes Region.

The food pantry will take place in the LRCC parking lot.

Janet Bryson, marketing and public relations manager for LRCC, said the college is proud to support the NH Food Bank's effort. Regular campus operations will continue as usual, she said.

The mobile food pantry will return to the Lakes Region from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 26, at Tenney Mountain Resort in Plymouth.

Megan Burch, director of marketing for Tenney Mountain, said it also won’t interrupt the resort’s usual operations.

"We are excited to simply be the host for the food pantry. They needed a parking lot, and we have one,” she said. "We plan on opening on Friday, Nov. 28, given we get the temps we need to make snow. Operations will not be affected. If anything, we hope the food pantry recipients get excited to see us making snow on the mountain.”

NH Food Bank is looking for volunteers to help staff distributions, Cipriani said. Volunteers will help with filling boxes and taking them to vehicles. For more information on volunteering, visit nhfoodbank.volunteerhub.com.

Where will the funds come from?

After a period of back-and-forth over the last week, Trump administration leaders said Monday the federal government would release partial SNAP funding, but money will be delayed. Information is not available about when Granite State participants would see funds on their cards, or how much.

However, the administration's decision — coming after a Massachusetts judge ruled in favor of 24 states asking funds be dispersed — is in contrast with information state leaders received in late October, which prompted the NH Department of Health and Human Services to find $2 million as a “Band-Aid.”

DHHS Commissioner Lori Weaver told the NH Joint Fiscal Committee on Oct. 28, when requesting approval for the program, her department generally receives about $12.6 million in federal funds monthly for SNAP recipients, and “that’s a big stretch for me to find.”

DHHS CFO Nathan White told the committee whether states will be reimbursed for these efforts will depend on details of the federal budget.

White said DHHS staff are using Medicaid Enhancement Tax revenue from 2025, which was not in the state’s budget, to offset using general funds to cover additional food distribution. The state will reimburse the Food Bank for funds spent on the program.

The state will provide the Food Bank with data to help inform where the pantries should be held, Weaver said. The contract approving this work is designed so that, “should the shutdown extend past the end of November, we would have some flexibility with doing" the work.

For more information on nutrition resources, visit nhfoodbank.org.