NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – On November 1, nearly 460,000 New Mexicans who rely on SNAP benefits woke up with no money on their cards. Food banks across the country, and in Albuquerque, were flooded with long lines of people waiting for their next meals.
Several local food banks have been preparing for this, including the Storehouse Food Pantry in downtown. They had long lines of people out the door, and some were there because of that lapse in their SNAP benefits. “Imagine every single day you have to question, ‘Oh are you gonna eat breakfast, are you gonna eat lunch, are you gonna eat dinner,’ because you can only do one of them,” said 22-year-old Diana Mohamdien, a SNAP recipient.
Mohamdien is disabled and lives her life in a wheelchair. She is one of the thousands of New Mexicans who didn’t receive their food benefits. “SNAP benefits help us eat. Personally, I only eat once a day with SNAP benefits; it’s not enough to feed someone full-time,” said Mohamdien.
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More than 100 people lined up outside the Storehouse New Mexico food pantry in downtown Albuquerque, which is more than they usually see at the start of a new month. “Since the cuts are happening today, this is sort of the first large wave we’ve seen,” said Jill Beets, the marketing rep with Storehouse…