FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2025
Contact: Charles Kretchmer Lutvak, 415-575-5617, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org
MAYOR LURIE, BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, CRANKSTART PARTNER TO SUPPORT SAN FRANCISCO FAMILIES AS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN THREATENS TO INTERRUPT SNAP BENEFITS
With SNAP Set to Lapse for First Time Ever, Public-Private Partnership Will Provide Assistance to Nearly 112,000 San Franciscans Facing Food Insecurity
City Funding Comes from Reserve Established During Budget Process to Prepare for State and Federal Uncertainty
SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today partnered with the Board of Supervisors and the Crankstart Foundation to ensure that San Francisco families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will not go without much-needed food assistance, even with the program set to lapse for the first time ever, one month into the federal government shutdown.
San Francisco is partnering with Crankstart to create a public-private partnership with $18 million to support nearly 112,000 San Franciscans facing food insecurity through November—including $9.1 million in city funding that Mayor Lurie proposed, with the unanimous support of the Board of Supervisors, from funding reserved in this year’s budget to navigate uncertainty in the state and federal budgets. Crankstart is matching the city funding with an additional $9 million contribution. Through a partnership with GiveCard and the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, the funding will support one-time emergency aid strategy to ensure San Francisco families can access food assistance and buy groceries during the federal shutdown.
“Nearly 112,000 San Franciscans rely on SNAP, and we will not stand by with the federal government set to let these critical benefits lapse for the first time ever,” said Mayor Lurie. “With the unanimous support of the Board of Supervisors, we will provide immediate relief for families and workers who depend on SNAP benefits, and we’re grateful to the Crankstart Foundation for their partnership in expanding that support. San Franciscans stand up for each other, and we’re going to do what it takes to make sure our neighbors can put food on the table and provide for their families.”
“Crankstart is deeply committed to San Francisco and its recovery,” said Crankstart CEO Missy Narula. “Crankstart admires the way that city government embraced the moment to ensure that, with Crankstart’s backing, the federal shutdown doesn’t leave any San Francisco resident without food this month. We don't see this as a partisan matter. We see it as common decency. Our neighbors should not go hungry and nobody in San Francisco should be living in fear.”
San Franciscans who are enrolled in SNAP (CalFresh) will receive mail next week with instructions for accessing digital or physical prepaid cards that are pre-loaded with funds that can be used at grocery stores citywide. The program will be administered by the San Francisco Human Services Agency (SFHSA) through a pro bono partnership with GiveCard, which supported emergency relief efforts following the Los Angeles fires and Texas floods.
“Every day, tens of thousands of low-income San Francisco families, children, seniors, and other individuals rely on CalFresh as a lifeline to prevent hunger,” said SFHSA Executive Director Trent Rhorer. “The funding supplemental will provide much-needed support for our most vulnerable San Franciscans so they won’t have to choose between having food on the table and paying their rent during the federal government shutdown.”
“GiveCard exists solely to ensure that there is a basic American infrastructure for getting funds to people when they most need it,” said GiveCard CEO Lurien Perera. “In times like these, we're grateful for the speed in which our partners are able to help nearly 112,000 San Franciscans put food on the table using our cards.”
The provision of CalFresh benefits, the state’s SNAP program, will be delayed beginning on November 1 due to the continued federal government shutdown. City and philanthropic funding will provide aid to more than 82,000 San Francisco households and nearly 112,000 San Franciscans—including seniors, people with disabilities, families with children, and workers with very low or unstable incomes, with support based on household need.
“SNAP is a lifeline for over a hundred thousand San Franciscans, and access to food is the most basic measure of dignity and stability,” said Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman. “I’m grateful to Mayor Lurie and his budget staff, and to Crankstart, for leading with compassion and urgency in a moment when our federal government has failed to meet its most fundamental obligation.”
“When Mayor Lurie and I finalized this year's budget, we came together with the keen awareness that we must be prepared to protect San Franciscans when our federal government fails us,” said District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan. “We have more challenges ahead and San Franciscans have our commitment that we will continue working together to ensure no San Franciscans are left behind.”
“The Federal government shutdown will have devastating impacts on our most vulnerable communities, and in San Francisco we are stepping up to save benefits and protect our constituents” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “I’m grateful to the mayor and my colleagues for our quick and united action to preserve these critical services.”
“SNAP is an essential lifeline. For many families it means the undeniable difference between going to bed hungry or nourished,” said District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen. “In spite of the federal assault on our communities, San Francisco is demonstrating our commitment to help sustain families in need who rely on these benefits.”
“Many seniors and low-income residents in District 3, many of whom are monolingual and live in SROs, rely on monthly SNAP benefits to buy their groceries,” said District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter. “The impending delay in these benefits has forced some to start rationing their limited funds, which is deeply concerning. I am proud that our city leaders are moving quickly to address this issue.”
“When the federal government announced it would not continue funding SNAP food benefits starting November 1 to millions of Americans across our country, our city leaders understood that we will not let our low-income families anguish over how will they put food on the table,” said Mario Paz, Good Samaritan Family Resource Center Executive Director. “Today’s supplemental funding announcement for food ensures that no child will go hungry in our city. We will continue to protect the most vulnerable in our communities for they are us and we are them.”
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