RICHMOND, Va. — In response to concerns over a potential government shutdown affecting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has announced a new state initiative designed to support residents who rely on these benefits.

During a press conference on Tuesday, October 28, Youngkin introduced the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance (VENA) program. This state-funded initiative aims to provide food assistance to Virginians if the federal government remains shut down into November.

“This is a challenging situation,” Youngkin stated. “We are establishing a parallel food assistance program to fill the gap left by the federal government’s inability to provide support.”

Should the government shutdown persist beyond November 1, the VENA program is set to commence on November 3. The initiative plans to aid those already utilizing SNAP by issuing benefits through existing electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards.

Unlike the usual monthly distribution of SNAP benefits, VENA funds will be added to cards on a weekly basis. This adjustment aims to ensure continuous support for the same group of beneficiaries who received SNAP benefits in October.

Benefits will be funded to the cards on a weekly basis, which is a change from how SNAP benefits are usually distributed, once a month.

“We’ll be doing it every week for as long as we can,” Youngkin said.

In a similar way to how SNAP benefits would be distributed in staggered days at the start of the month, benefits will be incrementally given each week through the VENA program.

The first group of recipients will be given their benefits on Monday, Nov. 3. The second group will receive their benefits on Wednesday, Nov. 5. And the final group will receive their benefits on Friday, Nov. 7.

To help make up for the delays in benefits that will be caused by the staggered distribution system, Youngkin said that an incremental $1 million will be going into the food bank system.

Funded by state surplus, the parallel benefits will total around $37.5 million every week.

Youngkin reiterated towards the end of the conference that VENA benefits will function almost exactly the same as SNAP benefits, with the only main difference being the weekly distribution instead of monthly.

For more information about the new system and to stay updated on changes, Youngkin advised impacted residents to visit the Virginia Department of Social Services website.