When SNAP runs dry, Jimmy Kimmel turns his late-night stage into a lifeline for hungry families.NH
Jimmy Kimmel Live! has established a “Big, Beautiful” food bank.
The late-night show announced on Tuesday, Nov. 4, that it will host a food donation center in Los Angeles as millions are set to lose the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits amid the government shutdown.
“Cutting SNAP benefits creates uncertainty for American children, seniors and families,” the show’s team wrote on Instagram. “To support our community members in need, we’re starting a donation center in our Hollywood backlot.”
“If you are in LA, please come by to donate food and if you are not, please consider supporting your local food banks,” the caption continued.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! Big, Beautiful Food Bank is collecting food and donations for the L.A. Food Bank and the St. Joseph Center.
Over 42 million Americans receive benefits from SNAP, and millions are at risk of losing those benefits as the government shutdown continues. The program is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, but funds are allocated to individual states to then distribute them to residents in need.
Ronald Ward, Acting Associate Administrator of SNAP’s Food and Nutrition Service, warned that the shutdown’s impact on benefits was imminent.
“If the current lapse in appropriations continues, there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for approximately 42 million individuals across the Nation,” Ward wrote in an October letter. “FNS appreciates and understands that States have questions regarding operation of the program, and has begun the process of fact finding and information gathering to be prepared in case a contingency plan must be implemented.”
The name “Big, Beautiful Food Bank” is a reference to the “Big, Beautiful Bill” that President Donald Trump signed into law in July. Host Jimmy Kimmel has been a longtime critic of Trump and ABC temporarily pulled him off the air after he made a comment in September that assumed the political leanings of Charlie Kirk’s killer. Kimmel’s show returned on Sept. 23.
