‘F— it, it’s open now’: Portland coffee shop offers free breakfast to SNAP recipients amid shutdown

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned that thousands of Americans would not be receiving food assistance next month due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, a small Portland coffee shop is stepping up to help.

The volunteer-run nonprofit Heretic Coffee announced

that it will offer free breakfast to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients.

“For me, it was a very simple calculus,” said Josh White, who owns the business. “We are a coffee shop that has food. People will now be going without it, and we just knew we needed to feed our Portland community.”

In the two days since making the announcement, he said the shop has been flooded with donations and volunteer applications. By Tuesday afternoon, they had received more than $97,000 in donations.

“One of the donations I saw was $1.17. When you donate $1.17, that means you only have $1.17. And those are the ones that are just really getting to me,” he said. “Like, these are people that just don’t want to see other people go hungry, and they’re doing whatever they can to make sure we keep Portland people fed.”

While they weren’t planning on offering the meals until Nov. 1, when SNAP benefits are expected to run out, White said that he was moved to start offering them sooner because of the demand.

“We were going to start this on Saturday and then yesterday we had a kid come in, maybe 11 years old. From what I could tell, he walked himself to our shop and went to the counter and said, ‘Hey, is there any chance I could get the SNAP breakfast a couple of days early?'”

White said he wasn’t sure what brought the kid there, but he assumed it was because his family ran out of benefits for the month. He took to social media to vent his frustration.

“Excuse my language, but I just said F— it, it’s open now,” White said.

At least 10 to 15 people came in requesting meals on Tuesday, but it’s also brought more paying customers.

“The beauty of it is that these are Portland people who are ordering a $3 cup of coffee and then also leaving cash for people who need SNAP,” he said. “It’s one of the most beautiful acts of generosity I think I’ve ever seen in my life.”

For those who want to help, White said there are a few different options. The company is still accepting volunteer applications, but due to the overwhelming amount they’ve received this week, White said he hopes people will be patient as it may take a couple of weeks before he is able to respond.

As far as donations go, he said the link to donate can be found on Heretic Coffee’s Instagram page, but that people should only donate if they can.

“We are not in need of your money. I just wanna make that clear. So please only donate if you can,” he said.

For him, the most important thing is awareness. He said if other small businesses are able to help people, they should.

“If you have a small business and you can feed people for free, do it. Right now is the time to do it,” he said. “When the system fails us, it’s up to one another to take care of one another.”

Heretic Coffee is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and on weekends from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit their website to learn more about their business.