OSHKOSH, Wis. (WISS) – Gov. Tony Evers toured the Oshkosh Area Community Pantry (OACP) on Thursday, bringing attention to not only food insecurity, but also to the possibility of thousands of Wisconsinites losing healthcare coverage.

“With the Obamacare credits that are gonna be discussed in Washington, D.C. If that falls apart, which it very likely will, that means there’s gonna be thousands, tens of thousands of people in the state of Wisconsin that are gonna be seeing double the amount of money that they have to pay for healthcare,” Evers said.

He said he is afraid it will lead to more food insecurity for Wisconsinites.

“There’s no ultimate answer in my opinion. Unless the federal government does what they need to do to make sure people have good healthcare and make sure that they have enough food,” Evers added.

In the meantime, Evers believes the $104 million Wisconsin put forward to ensure residents could receive SNAP or FoodShare benefits during the federal government shutdown will be returned to the state.

“It’s a federal program with federal money. We helped get it out the door, but yes, we will. I’m sure we’ll get the money,” he said.

Governor Tony Evers, Representative Lori Palmeri, and Oshkosh City Manager Rebecca Grill stock shelves at the Oshkosh Area Community Pantry. *Photo: Lisa M. Hale/Civic Media*

OACP sees additional need

Ryan Rasmussen, Executive Director of the OACP, said he has seen the need grow substantially this year and in recent months.

“Right now, we’re looking at about a 5% increase from last month to this month. We are still averaging 100 new families a month.” Rasmussen said. “So that trend has not declined at all.”

To help mitigate the increased need, OACP opened on a Saturday recently—something it hasn’t done in the past.

“We happily welcomed 40 families that day. So that was at least 40 additional families that couldn’t generally come during our normal hours of operation,” Rasmussen said.

The Oshkosh Area Community Pantry will also have additional Saturday hours on Saturday, Nov. 22.

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