The squeeze, unfortunately, is getting painfully tight. Amid today’s federal-agency upheavals, indiscriminate cutbacks and job losses, nonprofits are seeing demand rise for their social services and lifelines — even as their own supplies of support are being reduced.
It’s a dire situation that cannot be ignored or left unattended. Charitable donations from those who are doing well and can afford to donate are urged, whether it be via funding, food and items, or volunteered time.
At the state Legislature, meanwhile, Senate Bill 933 is a proactive vehicle to hedge against still-uncertain federal funding freezes and slashes. It began in January as a vague place-holder bill but has since developed into one that creates a process to give one-time, nonrecurring emergency grants to already-vetted nonprofits that provide critical services in public health, housing, safety and general welfare. SB 933, Senate Draft 2, which goes before the House Finance Committee today, deserves approval.
“Without assistance from the federal government, Hawaii’s federally qualified health centers, and programs that provide child care, social services, subsidized housing, and homeless services, will see a significant drop in funding,” the bill notes.
In Hawaii, about 250 nonprofits in 2023 received federal money that totaled $300 million to $400 million. In addition to helping others, the sector employs 12% of the local workforce, nearly 60,000 people, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics. So, federal cutbacks to nonprofits will cause a negative multiplier effect: the loss of funding reduces direct help via goods and services, but also the ability to retain staffers needed to run vital operations for our community’s most vulnerable people.
One area of fundamental need, as prices rise and more workers lose jobs under federal actions, are food banks. Across the country, these operations, already strained by greater demand, will have less food to distribute due to at least $1 billion in federal funding cuts and pauses, according to Reuters interviews with organizations in seven states. The news agency reports that food pantries in West Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, California and Nebraska have collectively already lost millions of dollars in federal money and food deliveries in recent weeks.
The hurt comes, in particular, from cuts in U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that helped food banks and schools purchase food. Fewer shipments are now expected from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), a core USDA nutrition program that buys food from farmers and sends it to food pantries.
Alas, that’s already happening here. The Hawai‘i Foodbank told the Star-Advertiser it is now facing a projected shortfall of around $350,000 in “TEFAP bonus foods” for Oahu over the next several months; statewide, that impact is about $553,000. Prior to the federal freezes, some $2.3 million worth of bonus foods for Oahu and $3.7 million statewide had been anticipated for fiscal 2025 — and if no more bonus foods come next year, Oahu would be down $2.3 million over what was anticipated, a significant loss.
Further, as in other states, there’s been a steady increase in need, up 13% over the past year. “We’re now supporting nearly twice as many individuals as we did before the pandemic — approaching levels seen at the height of pandemic-related demand,” the Hawai‘i Foodbank said. “TEFAP bonus product has been one of the major ways that we have been able to keep up with demand.”
Beyond food, the breadth of support and services that keep many people afloat in Hawaii underscores the necessity of being ready with emergency infusions.
Many stand to be hurt, and many more will be, by the federal government’s self-inflicted chaos. Nonprofits and community-based organizations have long been relied upon to adjunct government programs, working in tandem to provide lifelines and safety nets. But now, in Hawaii as in other communities nationwide, the helpers need help, more than ever.
