City and Dutchess, Putnam counties allocate funds

The Beacon City Council voted Monday (Nov. 3) to spend $50,000 to provide grocery gift cards to city residents who have lost federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

At the same time, the Trump administration said Monday that it will partially fund SNAP, commonly known as food stamps, for November following two court orders. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had planned to freeze payments starting Nov. 1 because of the federal government shutdown. The program costs $8 billion monthly, but the White House said an emergency fund it will use has $4.65 billion, or enough to cover about half the normal benefits.

It's not clear exactly how much beneficiaries will receive, nor how quickly they will see credits on the debit cards they use to buy groceries. November payments have already been delayed for millions of people, including local recipients. In Dutchess County, 17,152 people rely on food stamps (including 640 households in Beacon); in Putnam County, it's 2,885 people.

"Folks are very, very anxious," said Jamie Levato, the executive director of Fareground, an anti-hunger organization.

EMERGENCY DELIVERY - Volunteers with Fareground in Beacon on Tuesday (Nov. 4) unloaded eggs, fruits, vegetables and other food provided in part by Dutchess County for local food pantries.

As the Southern Dutchess Food Pantry Hub during the emergency, Fareground on Tuesday (Nov. 4) received three truckloads of food - two of them funded by Dutchess County - that were split between six food-access organizations. Later that day, an emergency distribution in Beacon was able to help 154 families, Levato said.

Beginning Thursday, $50 gift cards to either Key Food (268 Main St.) or the Beacon Natural Market (348 Main St.) or $60 in coupons for the Beacon Farmers' Market (Sundays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 223 Main St. parking lot) were distributed at the city's Recreation Center at 23 West Center St.

Cards and coupons were available Thursday and Friday (today) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Beacon residents enrolled in the SNAP program must provide photo identification, proof of residency (such as mail) and their SNAP card. Options are limited to one per SNAP recipient.

Additional times will be added as needed. The council has set no end date for the program; it will be determined based on demand for the cards, the use of funding and the resumption of federal benefits or the implementation of a comparable state program. Updates will be posted at beaconny.gov.

Mayor Lee Kyriacou asked city staff to develop the program last week, when it became apparent that federal benefits were at risk of lapsing. The grocery stores and the farmers market, which is operated by Common Ground Farm, provided the cards to the city at a substantial discount, Kyriacou said. The city opted for a direct transfer of cash-like gift cards because it was the quickest and easiest program to control, given the tight deadline, he said.

"We wanted to get assistance to people so that they could use and decide what they want," City Administrator Chris White said.

The city conducted online outreach and distributed flyers in both English and Spanish at low-income apartment complexes to inform residents about the program. Funding for the Beacon program was drawn from a $75,000 allotment in the 2025 budget for planning studies. White noted that "this is only a patch. The federal government needs to step up and maintain its commitment to people."

Dutchess County announced it would commit $150,000 per week to support local food pantries, for up to 10 weeks. The county said the amount was determined after consulting with Renee Fillette-Miccio, who chairs the Dutchess County Food Security Council. In Putnam, County Executive Kevin Byrne approved a request by legislators to provide $150,000 to fund food pantries.

Levato said that Fareground sees the majority of the people it serves jus...