Gov. McMaster activates One SC Fund, state National Guard ahead of SNAP benefit freeze

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) -South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster provided an update Tuesday about SNAP benefits in the state ahead of a potential freeze that will go into effect on Nov. 1.

McMaster announced during the press conference that he has activated the One SC Fund as well as the State Guard.

Officials said activating the One SC Fund will “allow for a coordinated charitable giving campaign dedicated to providing direct monetary assistance to regional food banks and local feeding partners across the state.”

During the press conference, McMaster noted that 99% of every dollar given to the One SC Fund will go straight to nonprofits such as food banks and pantries to help provide aid to those who need it, through grants administered by the Central Carolina Community Foundation.

“This is a disaster unlike the others that we can avoid, and we can do that by doing what we’re prepared to do, and that’s all of the citizens working together to help those who need the help, who need food,” McMaster said.

McMaster noted that any money donated during this time to the fund would only be used to provide assistance to local programs providing aid to SNAP recipients in the state.

The 900-plus food banks and pantries in South Carolina do not receive any state assistance, and food banks have said they alone cannot make up for a potential SNAP shutoff.

Around 560,000 people in South Carolina are enrolled in the program, about half of whom are children, while about one in five is older than 50.

SNAP recipient households in the state receive an average of $384 each month, and just last month, it cost nearly $104 million to pay for SNAP benefits in South Carolina alone.

The One SC Fund has been activated in the past to assist after natural disasters, and its highest-raising event, following Hurricane Helene last year, brought in about $6 million.

“We will buy it as fast as we possibly can with the money that’s given to us, but once again, we’re limited by the amount of donations that we receive. It is going to take a statewide effort that is bigger than a philanthropy effort to fill in this gap that SNAP is leaving right now, because of the sheer volume. Like, we are not logistically made to address the sheer volume of need that is about to happen,” Harvest Hope CEO Erinn Rowe said.

Harvest Hope is the state’s largest food bank, serving 20 counties across the Upstate, Midlands, and Pee Dee.

This time of year is usually a challenge for the organization, with an increase in need headed into the winter months and donations slowing down. It supplies food to pantries in its service area and directly to South Carolinians through its own emergency food pantry, and its shelves are growing barer by the day, before this potential crisis has even begun.

While individual states manage SNAP, the program is fully funded with federal money, and the US Department of Agriculture has said it won’t use its emergency funds to pay for the program in November.

The federal government has also said if states were to tap into their own reserves to fund SNAP next month, they will not be reimbursed.

South Carolina’s rainy-day fund has more than $800 million in it, stored to assist in emergencies, and when asked what is stopping the state from using part of it to pay for SNAP next month, the governor said that could happen.

But he noted that in the face of this potential impending crisis, it would be a lengthy process requiring the General Assembly to hold a special session, which the governor himself cannot order.

“They could appropriate the money from some source. They, of course, would have to be called back into session by themselves, and then they’d have to agree that’s what they want to do,” McMaster said. “But that’s something that would take some time and some debate. There’s no debate over this. We’re ready for this. We’re ready to go, we’re wide open, and all we need is for people to step forward.”

Legislative leaders also said the question of whether the General Assembly could be called back into session under these circumstances would be open to interpretation, as the legislature is bound to an agreement outlining the specific reasons it can return to the State House after the legislative session has ended, which happened in May.

The governor has been asked to declare a state of emergency, which has been done in at least one other state, Virginia.

But McMaster told reporters Tuesday he does not plan to do that, saying an emergency declaration must meet certain criteria and that there is nothing that allows that to happen in South Carolina for a food-related emergency.

The governor has also directed the State Guard to assist at food banks and pantries.

“The State Guard is over 400 men and women who wear this uniform, who love this state but also care for every citizen here,” State Guard Commander Leon Lott said. “As these tractor-trailers come into these different food banks, we’ll have soldiers there ready and able to unload the trucks.”

Lott added the guard would be there “as a show of force” alongside local law enforcement to make sure “that everything is done in a safe and orderly way.”

Click here for more information about and to donate to the One SC Fund.

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