Lee County residents wait hours for D-SNAP assistance

Author: Paul Dolan Writer: Paul Dolan, Elyssa Morataya
Published: Updated:

The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) is at the Lee Civic Center all weekend, ready to help Southwest Florida after recent hurricanes.

The lifeline for many Southwest Florida families opened at 7 a.m. Saturday, and it didn’t take long for parking spots to fill up, backing up traffic further and further down the road.

Neighbors in need were sitting for miles outside the Lee Civic Center in North Fort Myers.

“Came here, like, six hours ago,” said Bonita Springs resident Hardy Corado. “So, yeah, it was a long wait.”

“This line is ridiculous,” said Lee County resident Daniel Walla. “I’ve been in this line all together, coming in and coming out for like, about two or three hours.”

Eventually, patience paid off for Corado, Walla and thousands more just like them who waited in line.

While these people weave through cones and caution tape to get to the front, damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton remains.

This event is designed to help all of these people buy food.

“We came to get the help that the government is providing us because there was a lot of damages from the hurricane, and it will help us buy food for our family,” said Corado.

All of this waiting and navigating this maze around all of these people is not fun.

“We all need help, you know, some more than others,” said Walla. “And I just feel like everything, the whole the whole situation, is crazy. It’s a very long day, very stressful day for everybody. Everybody’s on edge.”

But if this demand and need is in the Southwest Florida community then the help the SNAP program offers is huge. Waiting in line, even this long of a line, is a small price to pay.

“At the end of the day, this is here to just help all of us, you know. So I’m okay with waiting a little bit. That don’t matter. We’ve all been through a lot,” said Cape Coral resident Jim Grisales.

A little help goes a long way.

If you need help from the SNAP program they will be at the civic center in North Fort Myers on Sunday. The doors open at 7 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.

If Saturday was any indication of the line on Sunday, it’s best to get there early.

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