Local businesses and groups are banding together throughout Jefferson County to help battle food insecurity while the prosepect of food stamp benefits expiring loomed amid the federal government shutdown.

Due to the government shut down — which began on Oct. 1 — the federal Supplemental Nutritional Awareness Program (SNAP), or food stamps, were set to expire Saturday, possibly leaving more than 600,000 Coloradans across 330,000 households without assisting funds, according to state data. Two judges ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture must continue to fund the program.

SNAP distributes about $120 million in federal food access resources each month to grocers, farmers and other workers statewide.

To help battle the food insecurity, Marsha Corn — owner of the Tangled Ball in Edgewater Public Market — pitched an idea: a friendly competition between local food halls to start collecting foods and funds in November, all donating them to corresponding foodbanks.

The competition will run at Edgewater Public Market, The Golden Mill in Golden, Stanley Marketplace in Aurora, Freedom Street Social in Arvada and Denver Central Market and Avanti Food & Beverage in Denver.

“People in the hospitality industry are used to taking care of others through food. One of the things we can do as food halls is enlist the help of our community members,” Bryant Palmer, marketing representative for Edgewater Public Market, told The Denver Gazette.

Donations will benefit nonprofits JeffCo Eats, BGOLDN, Village Exchange Center, Community Table, Kaizen Food Rescue and Bienvenidos Food Bank, depending on the food hall.

“Donated items are great, and people love the act of shopping for others,” Dan Vivacqua, general manager of Edgewater Public Market, said. “But these nonprofits can stretch monetary donations further and address specific needs in real-time.”

The food hall to receive the most donations wins “bragging rights and helps fill critical gaps in food security across the metro area,” according to a news release.

“Those of us who run food halls really try to make them feel like community gathering spaces. A part of that is doing things that build community,” Palmer said. “We have an audience of people who respond when we do things like this.”

Each hall will add collection bins to their common areas by Monday, which will remain available through the end of the month. A list of needed items can be found on each hall’s Instagram, like @edgewaterpublicmkt, on Saturday morning.

The Arvada Resilience Taskforce — a group of local partners including the Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce and Arvada Police Department — are also running a “No Neighbor Hungry” gift card drive in November.

Along with a lack of benefits for nearly 10% of families in the state, SNAP benefits spending accounts for about 8% of all grocery retail spending, according to a news release from the taskforce.

“Short-term sales loss could force grocers to cut staff hours and reduce inventory, as well as generate less tax revenue for the city to provide services for the community,” the taskforce said.

To combat this, the drive is asking locals to donate gift cards to local grocery stores, which will then be distributed to local nonprofits to give to families in need.

The goal is to raise $50,000 by Nov. 15.

“This is our chance to rally as a community and ensure that no Arvada families face hunger alone,” Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce CEO and Arvada Resiliency Task Force lead Kami Welch said. “We are reaching out directly to the Arvada community for help and appreciate every contribution, no matter how large or small, as each makes an immediate, local impact.”

Gift card drop offs include:

• The Arvada Visitor’s Center, 7305 Grandview Ave., 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday. Drop off with a staff member or use the secure, external mail drop box after hours.
• Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce, 7502 W. 80th Ave. #180, Arvada. 9:00 a.m – 5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday.
• Apex Center, 13150 W. 72nd Ave., 5:30 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 5:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Friday, 8:00 a.m.– 7:00 p.m. Saturday–Sunday. Drop off with a staff member at the check-in desks.
• Apex Community Recreation Center, 6842 Wadsworth Blvd., 8:15 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Monday–Friday. Drop off with a staff member at the check-in desks.

Emailed gift cards can be sent to info@arvadachamber.org. Direct donations can be sent online at arvadachamber.org/noneighborhungry.

Additional resources for those experiencing food insecurity in Jefferson County include:

• Colorado 211: Dial 2-1-1 or 866-760-6489 or visit 211colorado.org.
• Feeding Colorado Resources at Find Food – Feeding Colorado at info@feedingcolorado.org
• Jefferson County Human Services’ Find Resources page includes local food banks.