The Trump administration has cancelled more than $1.3 million in federal emergency grants awarded to a Brooklyn food pantry to feed migrants, after advising the nonprofit it was suspected of violating U.S. law by serving food to “illegal aliens.”
The move leaves the Campaign Against Hunger — which each year serves 17 million meals to over 1.5 million New Yorkers, including thousands of new arrivals — in a lurch.
“To take that much money from any organization that does not have an endowment or a large budget is to take food out of the mouths of those that need it the most,” said Melony Samuels, the CEO and founder of Bedford-Stuyvesant nonprofit. “For those that need food, it’s tough. We are in a sad, tough time.”
The Campaign Against Hunger received a letter on April 1 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency with news that its grants under the Shelter and Services Program were terminated immediately.
Myriam Vargas picks up fresh produce at The Campaign Against Hunger food pantry in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn, April 17, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
The Shelter and Services Program provides funding to nonprofits and government entities to support “noncitizen migrants” after they are released from Department of Homeland Security custody and while they wait for rulings on immigration proceedings. Congress appropriated $650 million for the program in Fiscal Year 2024, including $512,000 for the Campaign Against Hunger and another $60 million to New York City’s budget office, to reimburse the city for costs related to sheltering new arrivals.
In the letter, the FEMA acting administrator Cameron Hamilton wrote, “the individuals receiving these services often have no legal status and are in the United States unlawfully, such as those awaiting removal proceedings. This, in turn, provides support for illegal aliens and is not consistent with DHS’s current priorities. For these reasons, DHS/FEMA is terminating your awards.”
New York City received a Shelter and Services Program termination letter, too, for $188 million in grants it was awarded. That sum included the $80 million seized from the city’s bank account, which New York City is now suing to recoup.
“We will continue working to ensure our city’s residents receive every dollar they are owed and to prevent this funding clawback from taking effect,” Liz Garcia, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.
The Campaign Against Hunger had previously received a letter from Hamilton on March 11, — just days after a judge issued a temporary injunction to halt the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze of federal funds and grants — advising that the group’s FEMA funds would be frozen pending an investigation.
Hamilton cited “significant concerns that Shelter and Services Program funding was going to entities “engaged in or facilitating illegal activities.” FEMA sought information about the migrants as well as an affidavit from the nonprofit’s executives attesting they had not participated in crimes.
Volunteers stock food essentials at The Campaign Against Hunger food pantry in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn, April 17, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
The Campaign obtained a pro-bono lawyer to plead its case to try to get the funding back.
“We were chosen and asked to do this. I was excited because already migrants were coming in. It was not new,” Samuels said. “We were doing an essential service to our city.”
The nonprofit says it has already spent about $600,000, most of it on food, for which it may not be reimbursed.
At a supermarket-style food SuperPantry in Bedford-Stuyvesant, people pick up food, baby formula and even clothing during open hours five days a week. Families typically come to the pantry biweekly, but given their budget uncertainty, the Campaign in April began limiting visits to once a month.
“What we had to do, which was very hard, knowing that families are hungry, we had to change the way we distribute so that the little that we had could go a long way,” Samuels said. “How long will we have to continue this trend? I hope not long.”
Typically, about 13,000 people each week visit the Campaign’s locations, but Samuels estimated her organization would serve about half as many families as usual this month. Some of the Campaign’s regulars complained, she said, but most understood.
“Some people told us that they’ve been here for years, and so they know if we could do better, we would,” she said.
Dr. Melony Samuels works out her office at The Campaign Against Hunger food pantry in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn, April 17, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
Samuels said she wakes up in the wee hours of the morning, dreading the day to come, her mind spinning through the challenging decisions she’ll have to make.
“What am I going to do? Will I be able to meet the needs? How many people will be turned away? Are we going to ration the amount of food?” she said. “We have gotten funding in — thank God, that’s why we’re still open — but it’s not enough to cover the gap.”
The FEMA grants weren’t the only source of federal funding yanked from the Campaign. Samuels said over $600,000 that came through the state’s New York Food for New York Families, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was rescinded when the USDA cancelled the program in March. In addition, the Campaign is owed some money from the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, also funded by FEMA, which the Trump administration suspended in February.
The Campaign Against Hunger is just one of several food banks across the city scrambling to meet an urgent and growing need in the wake of federal cuts to programs and funding streams.
In the meantime, Samuels has been begging for donations to keep the organization afloat.
“We’re hoping that individuals and corporations will see The Campaign Against Hunger and the injustices that have been done to us, and would just roll up their sleeves and help,” she said. “We are not peripheral. We are a lifeline.”
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