how can we help coworkers who are losing food benefits?

A reader writes:

Hopefully this is a non-issue very soon, but I was wondering what ideas you’ve encountered or heard of that might be helpful.

I am a manager of a small to medium-sized federal office. We are in furlough but required to work. While most of my employees are okay financially at the moment, we have three or four (and probably one or two who are private) who are being hit hard, and with SNAP benefits seemingly going away this is going to be a real issue for them and their families.

We have certain ethical boundaries we can’t cross, and I don’t want to single any one out. But I can’t let my employees go hungry. Have you heard of any creative ideas that I might be able to try? We’ve already compiled a list of outside resources, but this doesn’t seem enough.

If you were a private employer, you’d have a lot more options for how you could help, from offering temporary food subsidies to bringing in lunch more often to adding (or increasing the stock of) things like oatmeal and other basics in the office kitchen.

But you work for the federal government, which means you don’t have the budget authority for those things, so you have to get more creative. Compiling resources is good (and if you’re in the D.C. area like many federal employees, this article has links to a range of local help). Could you also partner with local organizations that will offer coupons for free or heavily subsidized food?

You could also do a very low-pressure office food drive — like setting up a bin for canned goods in an inconspicuous area with a sign on it to donate if you want and to take what you need, and then letting people know it’s there.

But man, none of this comes close to filling the gap.

Readers, other ideas? (Keep in mind that this letter-writer has pretty rigid financial restrictions on what they can do because they work for the government.)

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