Goodr, The Tech-Driven Food Waste Company, Launches Fund To Support Families As SNAP Benefits Face Pause
Atlanta-based Goodr Co. is stepping up for the community as millions are set to experience a pause in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
In an Instagram video shared Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, Goodr Founder and CEO Jasmine Crowe-Houston issued a call for help.
“As many of you may have heard, millions of people will lose their SNAP benefits in just a few days, including hundreds of thousands right here in Metro Atlanta,” Crowe-Houston said.
“What this means is that their grocery budgets will disappear overnight. At Goodr, we’re stepping up to fill the gap,” she continued.
The tech-enabled sustainable food waste management company has launched the Goodr Community Fund, allowing the public to make a direct impact. For a $10 donation, donors can sponsor a “grab bag” meal that feeds a family of four. For an additional $5, Goodr will deliver groceries and meals directly to seniors and families.
Goodr is also accepting registration requests from families in need. By filling out an online request form linked in its Instagram bio, these families can receive priority as donations roll in.
“People need to eat to live. It’s that simple. And we need everyone to come together to show our neighbors that community and villages still exist,” Crowe-Houston said in the post.
Goodr’s support comes as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the ongoing government shutdown will halt SNAP benefit distributions starting Nov. 1, 2025.
Government Shutdown: Why SNAP Benefits Are On Hold
As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the USDA confirmed that SNAP’s November budget is depleted and the program cannot legally draw from emergency disaster funds to cover regular monthly benefits. Even if such funds were available, they could only supplement — not fully replace — standard payments.
The department added that the halt in benefits would continue as long as the government shutdown persists and warned that states won’t receive reimbursement if they used their own funds to maintain payments.
With the government spending an estimated $100 billion on SNAP annually, about $8.3 billion per month, suspending payments is expected to affect over 40 million Americans, AFROTECH™ noted.
The government shutdown started on Oct. 1, 2025, after Congress failed to extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, and has since become the second-longest shutdown in U.S. history.
Efforts to end the congressional impasse have stalled. The Senate has repeatedly rejected a House-passed, Republican-backed stopgap bill that would fund the government through Nov. 21. The most recent vote took place on Oct. 28, per CBS News.
Republicans argue that Democrats should approve a short-term measure and resolve policy disputes later, while Democrats insist that any funding bill should include healthcare provisions.
Judges Order Trump Administration To Continue SNAP Benefits
On Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, two federal judges — Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, MA, and Judge John J. McConnell Jr. in Providence, RI — ruled that the Trump administration’s efforts to suspend SNAP funding was “unlawful.” Judge McConnell went further and temporarily ordered the administration to reinstate SNAP funding using emergency reserves during the government shutdown, according to ABC News.
He required the USDA to distribute contingency funds “timely, or as soon as possible.”
“There is no doubt, and it is beyond argument, that irreparable harm will begin to occur — if it hasn’t already occurred — in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food for their family,” McConnell said, per ABC.
He ruled on the grounds that halting SNAP funding was in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, stating that the decision was “arbitrary and capricious,” according to the outlet.
In a late Friday filing, the administration said it was “expeditiously attempting to comply” with the order.
Local governments, nonprofits, small businesses, and workers’ rights groups filed a lawsuit on Thursday, Oct. 30, asserting that the Trump administration had “needlessly plunged SNAP into crisis” by suspending benefits despite having emergency funds.
“For the reasons stated below, Plaintiffs have standing to bring this action and are likely to succeed on their claim that Defendants’ suspension of SNAP benefits is unlawful,” Judge Talwani wrote, ABC reports.
Both judges allowed flexibility in whether the program is fully funded or will offer reduced November payments. They requested an update by Monday, Nov. 3.
