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Clearly, we can’t rely on the Congress. A Congress that is willing to let millions of Americans go hungry so its members can score partisan points is less than worthless. Senate Democrats should agree to an extension to fund the federal government while the two parties and bodies work to pass an actual budget for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1. And the Republican House should be in session writing that budget rather than on an extended vacation; the actual budget still has to be passed even if the Senate agrees on a temporary extension. Meantime, and only slightly more unlikely, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny should deliver a month’s worth of groceries to the 42 million Americans who are about to go without. President Donald Trump has through Friday to move money around to allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits to be paid for November — as a contingency plan called for before it was disappeared on Friday and as the administration has done for programs it likes. But with Mr. Trump’s flair for the dramatic and fondness for chaos, any reprieve likely won’t come until the last minute. And there’s no guarantee there will be a reprieve, or that it will be for a full month, and with the Congress showing no interest in doing its job, there is no permanent or temporary budget in sight. So it’s up to the states and the people in them to do the job we elect the Congress and the president to do. The most urgent part of that job is feeding the people — primarily children and the elderly — who rely on federal assistance to put food on their table. On Monday, Central Carolina Community Foundation activated the One SC Fund at the request of Gov. Henry McMaster. This should encourage all South Carolinians who can to help our neighbors in need, in much the way we do after hurricanes and other disasters made by nature instead of the Congress. If you’re not accustomed to giving to your local food bank or food pantry, the fund will make the process easier, because it coordinates and distributes donations to food banks and other nonprofits across the state; 99 percent of the donated money goes directly to charities, and everything raised until the next disaster will provide food aid for those in need.
