A directive from the U.S. Department of Agriculture has introduced fresh uncertainty for millions of Ohio and Pennsylvania residents who rely on food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assi

About $100 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits started reaching Pennsylvanians Friday in a major victory for Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration. Shapiro, at a news conference Friday at North Philadelphia’s Share Food,

Shapiro declared a disaster, allowing the state to tap into $5 million of funding to assist food banks, but they are not expecting it to be enough to meet the demand.

After federal court rulings, SNAP will issue November benefits to over 2 million Pennsylvanians — but at only half the usual amount.

Alexis Miller first encountered Jim and Janet Bowers when she commissioned their bakery in Shamokin, to make her wedding cake. “We didn’t have a lot of money or time,” Miller said. Miller, who was 24 at the time,

Shapiro emphasized there's no shame in needing help right now. If you do, you can find a food bank or pantry in your area by calling 211 or visiting PA211.org. Thursday marked the sixth day millions of people were without food assistance, and Pennsylvania leaders wanted to share what they're doing to help people keep food on their tables.

A back-and-forth court battle has led to further uncertainty for the food assistance program, which serves close to 1 million people in the Greater Philadelphia area.

SNAP, often called food stamps, helps about 42 million Americans, 2 million of them in Pennsylvania, to buy groceries.