SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Local entrepreneur Jeff Knauss is pausing his relief effort to assist families affected by the looming hiatus in SNAP benefits being issued due to “overwhelming demand.”
The relief effort includes the purchase of $150 Wegmans gift cards to be distributed to families facing hunger. Knauss announced on Thursday afternoon that more than 30,000 people have applied for help. He said he’s raised nearly $130,000, but that’s only enough to cover around 866 Wegmans gift cards.
Knauss said his team is continuing to raise additional donations so that they can support as many families as possible from the existing pool of applications. However, he said that due to the program, titled the Upstate NY SNAP Fund, operating on a first-come, first-served basis, any new requests cannot be accepted at the moment…