‘We’ve all been there’: How local restaurants united to give during SNAP unease

A $1 tip. That’s all one local mother had to give during a recent visit to The Yeller Sub, but it was enough to amaze operator Cheyanne Bywater.

It was in the middle of a busy lunch rush when the mother walked into the sandwich restaurant, which offered free kids’ meals as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, funds temporarily froze earlier this month.

The mother ordered the free meal for her teenage daughter, but nothing for herself. Cheyanne Bywater noticed the mother sit down, watch her daughter eat and then leave the tip behind before heading to the car.

“That was so kind,” Cheyanne Bywater said.

Struck by what was happening, Nate Bywater — a co-operator of The Yeller Sub and husband of Cheyanne Bywater — ran out of the restaurant, knocked on the mother’s car window before she left and handed her a stack of cards for free sandwiches.

“This is a mother (who) all she cared about was feeding her daughter,” Nate Bywater said. “It’s hard to see these parents go through that.”

The Yeller Sub was one of several restaurants across New Mexico that offered free meals for kids during a federal funding lapse in food assistance — the result of a 43-day government shutdown that ended Nov. 12.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, paused SNAP benefits Nov. 1, but two federal judges quickly issued rulings requiring the Trump administration to keep the program running. The administration agreed to partially fund the program but appealed court orders to fully fund it, keeping payments for many Americans in limbo.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued executive orders allocating $30 million in state contingency funds to help cover food costs for New Mexico SNAP recipients for 10 days starting Nov. 1. After those funds depleted, New Mexico lawmakers gathered in a Nov. 10 special session to approve a bill that authorized up to $162 million to provide state nutrition assistance benefits through mid-January — though those funds are no longer necessary now that the federal government has reopened.

More than 400,000 New Mexicans were receiving SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2024, according to data from the USDA. That is more than 21% of the state’s population — the largest percentage of SNAP participation across all 50 states.

Despite the state stepping in, demand for The Yeller Sub’s free meals was high. The sandwich restaurant gave away more than 450 free kids’ meals between Nov. 1 and Nov. 8.

All a customer needed to do to get the free meal was ask for the “Got Your Back Special,” which the Bywaters established so that people wouldn’t be embarrassed — a feeling Cheyanne Bywater remembers all too well.

“I was in that position a long time ago and I remember my EBT card getting declined because the funds hadn’t hit or whatever, and it was mortifying to have to leave my shopping cart there and walk out with no groceries,” Cheyanne Bywater said.

The restaurant’s kids’ meal — a sandwich, a side of fries and a drink — typically sells for $6. The restaurant operators planned to absorb the cost — roughly $2,700 — but the community had other plans.

Upon announcing the free meals on social media, people and businesses quickly started making donations to support the restaurant’s efforts, with some people offering to prepay for between three and 20 meals and others dropping off checks for $300.

“That certainly eased the burden,” Nate Bywater said.

As of a little over a week ago, the Bywaters said they expected to break even on their investment into the free kids’ meals with the help of donations.

“We never expected to get the response we did,” Nate Bywater said. “We wanted to have Albuquerque’s back and we knew it was going to come at a cost, or we thought it was going to come at a cost, but at the end of the day, Albuquerque had our backs even more.”

Donations aren’t the only way the community responded to the restaurant’s free meals. People also flooded in just to patronize the business, leading to record sales for the restaurant, which has been in business for 46 years.

“We didn’t want any kind of attention from it and we certainly didn’t think it was going to drum up a bunch of business, but it did and it was such a blessing,” Nate Bywater said.

The Yeller Sub’s kids’ meals have returned to regular pricing since the government reopened. The Bywaters plan to put the surplus of donations and extra business they’ve received toward another charitable cause.

People helping people

The Yeller Sub wasn’t the only restaurant that stepped up to provide free or discounted meals or resources. More than 100 restaurants, food pantries, stores and organizations across the state offered help during the shutdown, according to a list posted to the Albuquerque Foodies Facebook group in early November.

“There truly is a culture here of New Mexicans taking care of New Mexicans,” Nate Bywater said. “There’s a ton of businesses that came out in full force and just said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna feed the community.’ I have friends (who) live all over this nation and they said none of that was happening anywhere else.”

Jennifer Sanchez, franchise owner of Chicken Salad Chick in Albuquerque, agreed.

“It was crazy how fast it spread here,” Sanchez said. “And I think that just goes back to our roots — we’re a very family driven community.”

Sanchez and partner Keith Murray also offered free kids’ meals at their two Albuquerque Chicken Salad Chick locations, which had served more than 700 free meals as of Nov. 14, Sanchez said.

The local franchisees paid for the meals, amounting to more than $8,000, but Sanchez said the business has also witnessed community members making donations — from cash to entire truckloads of food and water. Donations not designated to pay for kids’ meals have been passed along to St. Felix Pantry, Sanchez said.

“People have come together to help out people they don’t even know,” Murray said. “They turn around and say, ‘Hey, I want to give you 50 bucks,’ and they hand it to me and they don’t care about who’s going to receive it. They just trust we’re going to be a good steward of it.”

Seeing how many families are still in need heading into the holiday season inspired Sanchez and Murray to keep the giving going. Chicken Salad Chick will continue offering free kids’ meals on Saturdays through the end of the year, to support families on a day when kids aren’t at school.

“We’re fortunate enough that we can afford the cost, so we want to make sure that we give back to the community,” Sanchez said.

‘We’ve all been there’

For Lexy Ford — owner of Sugar Bee’s Sweets, a snow cone shop in Rio Rancho — recent data on food insecurity in New Mexico is what prompted her to extend help beyond the shutdown, partnering with Which Wich on Coors Boulevard to give out 500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and 200 snow cones to kids on Nov. 16.

“Even with benefits, when you look at the numbers, they’re so daunting,” Ford said.

In New Mexico, nearly one in four children, or more than 23.3%, lived in households without consistent access to adequate food, according to 2023 data from the New Mexico Department of Health website. New Mexico’s child hunger rate, higher than the national average, is the fourth-highest among all states.

It’s easy to get lost in the numbers, Ford said, but they can also unlock deep-rooted generosity.

“This has been by far my worst season out of all the years I’ve done business. Financially, I’ve made half the sales I make every year,” Ford said. “This isn’t necessarily something that I can even afford, but I’ve been there with my kids. I’ve been a recipient of SNAP benefits... so if I could give back, that’s something I want to do.”

Ford believes it’s New Mexicans’ abilities to relate to each other that drove the overwhelming response from restaurants and businesses the past several weeks.

“It’s honestly beautiful,” Ford said, tears in her eyes. “When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what I have or another person has — we’ve all been there.”

Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Albuquerque Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.