After Tyler Perry sounded the alarm on SNAP benefit cuts, many social media users told the entertainment mogul to “put his money where his mouth is.” And it looks like that’s exactly what he did.
In a recent interview with People magazine, Perry revealed that he donated $1.4 million to several Atlanta-based and national organizations, including the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Baby2Baby, Meals on Wheels Atlanta, Caring for Others, All for Lunch, the Ron Clark Academy, and Goodr. That money will go toward helping the millions of Americans affected by the SNAP benefit freeze that took effect on November 1.
“If you’ve never been poor, then you may not fully understand the life-changing impact SNAP benefits mean to hard-working people, to our seniors, and to our children,” he told the outlet. “For millions of people, it could mean extreme hunger. For newborns, it could mean a lack of access to formula.”
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, is a federal program through the US Department of Agriculture that “provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget so they can afford the nutritious food essential to health and well-being.” But as the country faced the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, the USDA and several states warned that the program would have “insufficient funds to pay full November benefits” by the end of October.
With thousands of federal employees furloughed and paychecks on hold, many Americans were left scrambling to afford basic necessities like food. Waves of anxiety and outrage spread across the country, while community organizations, food banks, and pantries worked overtime to fill the massive gap left by the government’s shutdown.
“Compassion is not political, it’s humanity and we seem to be missing both right now, Perry noted.
Earlier this week, during a screener for his new film “Finding Joy,” the filmmaker took a moment to address the not-so-joyful reality many Americans are facing. Revealing that he is “very, very concerned” about the SNAP cuts, he urged everyone in the audience to “Please, please just, just try and help whoever you can because I’m doing a lot to see what I can do.”
A source close to Perry added that the filmmaker “knows firsthand what it feels like to be hungry and homeless,” referencing the filmmaker’s upbringing. “Though he has achieved so much, those feelings never leave you. And when he sees injustices like this he always feels compelled to help. He is absolutely devastated by what is happening to so many people.”
The news of Perry’s donation comes just after federal judges ordered the Trump administration to allocate full funding for SNAP. While the president previously announced plans to only partially fund the program, District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. gave the administration a Nov. 7 deadline to restore the benefits entirely.
“The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund SNAP,” McConnell said in a ruling from the bench after a brief hearing, per the Associated Press. “They knew that there would be a long delay in paying partial SNAP payments and failed to consider the harms individuals who rely on those benefits would suffer.”
