U.S. Poverty and Food Assistance

The nonprofit GiveDirectly, partnering with benefits app Propel, rapidly distributed $50 virtual gift cards to more than 246,000 SNAP households nationwide after President Donald Trump froze November 2025 food‑stamp payments during the second month of the federal shutdown. Funded by about $12 million in donations from around 5,000 individuals and several major philanthropies, the program used Propel’s 5 million‑user platform to target verified SNAP recipients, offering modest but immediate relief as families borrowed money and struggled with missed benefits.