Boone County, Columbia redirect funds, revive CoMoHelps to address food insecurity
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Thousands of Mid-Missourians could soon face food insecurity as the federal government halts SNAP benefits on Nov. 1. In response, Boone County and the City of Columbia are redirecting money and reactivating CoMoHelps, an emergency relief portal created to coordinate community aid.
The effort is led by Boone County, the City of Columbia, the Community Foundation of Central Missouri, the Heart of Missouri United Way and the Veterans United Foundation.
More than 15,000 Boone County residents rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and more than 15% report experiencing food insecurity, according to county officials. The suspension of SNAP benefits could worsen existing food insecurity across the region.
“Food insecurity is definitely an already existing issue,” Heart of Missouri United Way President and CEO Talia Jackson said. “We know that with the disruption of SNAP benefits, and then there are also other social services benefits that will potentially be impacted, that can make this just a greater issue.”
Boone County Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick said discussions on how to respond began last week and moved quickly once officials confirmed they could redirect existing American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“Conversations started last week, and it came about rather quickly,” Kendrick said. “The county put up $50,000 that will go toward the food bank. The City of Columbia will match that.”
Kendrick said the county reallocated the money from another ARPA-funded initiative.
“What we did is we reduced the Public Safety Childcare Center, so a project that Boone County government is leading,” Kendrick said. “We reduced that by $50,000 to move $50,000 ARPA funds over to the Food Bank Market.”
He said the adjustment will not slow the childcare project.
“We felt like it was an immediate need to address food insecurity. Food bank has great purchasing power, right? I mean, their dollar goes much further than a dollar would, just from an individual buying food,” Kendrick said. “That $50,000 will be used to help really stock up the Food Bank Market during the month of November. That money actually went out the door today [Friday].”
Kendrick said food insecurity is “first and foremost” on county leaders’ minds, but they expect other challenges to emerge if the federal safety net continues to shrink.
“This isn't going to solve the problem. Certainly, the problem of food insecurity can and will likely become very real, very quickly as we move into November, especially if SNAP benefits remain paused. It will help alleviate the problem. And we'll just keep, we'll continue to reassess as we move along," Kendrick said. “Local governments, county governments can't really step in and fill the void left by the federal government. We don't have those resources. But it's also, it's just who we are, and how we want to serve."
CoMoHelps, which first launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, is being reinstated to distribute local donations and relief funds. The Boone County Impact Collective has committed $130,000 in immediate funding through the program.
Jackson said the decision to revive CoMoHelps came naturally.
“We were a part of it back during COVID, and we were having some individual conversations, and it just morphed kind of naturally to go, let's reinstate CoMoHelps,” Jackson said. “It made sense for us to get back into that space as a way to be able to quickly respond.”
Jackson said the United Way and other local nonprofits are preparing to meet increased demand but acknowledge the uncertainty ahead.
“It’s really unprecedented,” she said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in terms of how many requests we’re going to get from nonprofits, how big those requests are going to be. It’ll be something that we watch and monitor and report on in the coming days and months.”
Outreach for donations has already begun, with Jackson sending out messages to Heart of Missouri United Way supporters who have given in the past.
“We will do what we can for as long as we can and continue to push and ask,” Jackson said.
Officials said the local efforts are a strong start, but not enough to meet the growing need. The Boone County Impact Collective is urging local businesses, civic groups and residents across Mid-Missouri to contribute to CoMoHelps at comohelps.org.
“All donations will go directly toward helping our neighbors weather this crisis,” a release from Boone County stated. “This is not just a donation — it’s a declaration that no one in our community should face hunger or hardship alone.”
