Wyoming advocates urge Legislature to help fund SNAP-Ed and SUN Bucks as food insecurity climbs
CHEYENNE — A group of almost 50 Wyoming hunger relief organization leaders and advocates gathered in the state Capitol Tuesday to discuss the importance of protecting and fully funding hunger relief efforts statewide, including SNAP, SNAP-Ed and SUN Bucks.
The group began with a news conference in the governor’s ceremonial conference room before briefly sitting in on House of Representatives and Senate floor sessions.
Wyoming first lady Jennie Gordon, who founded the Wyoming Hunger Initiative, said at the news conference that in 2025 alone, more than 28,000 Wyoming individuals used SNAP to spend $62 million in benefits at local grocery stores and retailers.
The state’s food insecurity rate currently sits at 15.4%, and continues to rise, she said.
“Hunger is not always visible,” Gordon said. “But for thousands of our neighbors, it’s a daily reality.”
While SNAP benefits alone help thousands of families afford groceries, Gordon said, access to food must be paired with education through the SNAP-Ed program.
SNAP-Ed helps families using SNAP benefits learn how to plan meals, shop wisely and cook nutritious foods on a limited budget.
The group is also continuing to rally for the legislature to participate in the SUN Bucks program, which provides eligible families with $120 per child or $40 per month during the summer break months when children are unable to get free school lunches.
Last year, the House voted down House Bill 341, “Summer nutrition assistance for children,” by a 25-34 vote. The bill would have directed state participation in SUN Bucks and established duties for state agencies to administer it, according to a February 2025 WyoFile article.
Wyoming also decided against SUN Bucks participation in 2024, with Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder calling it, at the time, a welfare program disguised as a benefit for kids.
“An estimated 32,000 Wyoming children could benefit,” Gordon said Tuesday. “Especially those who may not have access to traditional summer meal sites.”
Danika Sveda, Food Bank of Wyoming executive director, told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle following the news conference that the group is rallying to have funding for SNAP-Ed and SUN Bucks added back into the governor’s 2027-28 biennium budget.
Sveda said they’re asking for close to $3.2 million for SNAP-Ed and $3.8 million for SUN Bucks.
“It’s important to recognize, too, that those dollars get reimbursed back into Wyoming,” Sveda said. “So when a parent is using that at the grocery store to buy their kids food for the summer, it’s going back into the local economy.”
Kristen-Erin Balderaz, executive director of Cheyenne’s Needs Inc., said 6,400 people sought help from her organization in 2020. In 2025, that number rose to 46,500.
“There are people that are standing now in Walmart making that decision between buying more laundry soap so their kids can go to school with clean clothes, or buying the snacks so that way they’re not shamed by the classroom moms for not contributing,” Balderaz said.
Gordon and Balderaz both said that these reasons and more are why the legislature needs to help fund food assistance programs, and they will continue the fight for as long as it takes.
“We have a road ahead of us to try to get some of these things passed,” Gordon said. “... We did better than we did last year, and we’re going to try again this year. If we don’t get it this year, we’re going to be back next year, because we have the crew that can do it.”
This story was published on Feb. 25, 2026.