“Indivisible Rhode Island exists to fight back in the Trump era,” said organizer Lev Poplow outside the Rhode Island State House on a cold, windy Saturday afternoon. “We fight every day to save democracy and to fight fascism. We fight every day for an America based on equity and justice for all.
“When Trump and the Republicans began the longest government shutdown in history because [Democrats] decided they weren’t going to play along and raise insurance rates by two to three times, and it became clear that on November 1st SNAP benefits were going to be cut off to people, including almost 145,000 Rhode Islanders, we knew we had to do something to help, so Indivisible Rhode Island, united with SEIU 1199 NE, the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, the Teamsters, the Rhode Island Council of Churches, the Community Food Bank, and the new Indivisible Rhode Island metro local chapter in an alliance of civic and faith-based organizations to launch the Neighbor Food Network, a large scale food and donation drive.”
“Our goal was threefold,” continued Poplow. “We wanted to make sure that no Rhode Islander would be without the food they needed by bringing as many groups together as possible to stage the largest food drive that Rhode Island has ever seen. We wanted to ensure that, going into winter, the shelves of Rhode Island food pantries were fully stocked, and that our federal delegation knew that Rhode Islanders wouldn’t be hungry, so they could stand strong and not cave in to Republican demands. (While we know that seven Democratic senators did cave, we can proudly say that our federal delegation did not. They voted “No” till the very end.”
Here’s the video of the speaking program.
The rally and food drive were intended to call attention to the deepening impact of federal SNAP cuts and the growing strain on local food banks. Speakers highlighted how attacks on essential benefits and rising food insecurity threaten the “wellbeing of Rhode Island families and the strength of our democracy.”
“It’s not just about food,” continued Poplow. “It’s about freedom. Hunger is the oldest weapon of tyranny. A government that can make people go hungry can make them do anything. When Trump withholds benefits, he’s not just breaking the safety net; he’s breaking democracy. He’s telling Rhode Islanders, ‘Obey me or starve.’ But we will not obey.”
Poplow continued:
“This is what Indivisible Rhode Island was built for: To fight authoritarianism, not just with slogans, but with service. We feed our neighbors because the federal government won’t. We stand with our Neighbor Food Network partners and hundreds of volunteers across the state, who refuse to accept starvation as a policy, because we are neighbors helping neighbors. Currently, as we stand here, three other local Rhode Island Indivisible chapters are hosting food drives in Narragansett, Warwick, and Bristol.
“We believe that Rhode Islanders are stronger than fear, and we know that solidarity can feed more than bellies. It feeds courage; every food drive, every union truck delivering canned goods, every church opening its basement to distribute meals is an act of defiance. We saw this same spirit a couple of weeks ago at the No Kings Day rally, when over 30,000 Rhode Islanders stood shoulder to shoulder to say that America does not need a king. When you show up, you realize that not only are you not alone, but you are actually part of something bigger than yourself, and that helps to build the shared sense of identity we will need for the path ahead. And while the government shutdown is coming to an end and SNAP dollars are once again flowing, that does not mean that food insecurity for thousands of Rhode Islanders is at an end. Most food banks are dangerously low on supplies as we head into the winter, and we must help them.
“Thanks to the One Big Horrifically Horrible bill that was passed in July, almost three million Americans are vulnerable to losing nutrition assistance. That horrifically cruel legislation partially offsets the cost of trillions of dollars of tax cuts to people who don’t need a tax cut by slashing $186 billion from SNAP. This is what it looks like when an authoritarian government uses hunger as a weapon to control people, so the work of the Neighbor Food Network remains vitally important. Thanks to our partners, union halls throughout the state are open to receive food donations, and our friends at the Teamsters are graciously helping to distribute the food to pantries across the state. Wherever Rhode Islanders need food, this coalition is committed to being there to help. To learn more about how you can help, visit our website at NeighborFoodNetwork.org. If you would like to make a monetary donation, we encourage you to visit rifoodbank.org.
“At Indivisible Rhode Island, our mission is grounded in building a democracy of, by, and for the people, one that centers equity, justice, and community care. This moment is beyond politics. When food on the table is at stake, we cannot wait. We must act together.”
Katherine Sochacka is a climate activist and co-chair of Climate Action Rhode Island (CARI).
“Thank you for coming out on this freezing November day, to take care of your fellow Rhode Islanders and ensure no one’s starving,” said Sochacka. “We at CARI believe that everyone has a right to a safe and healthy planet, clean air and water, and a livable future. This includes our belief that sustainable food systems and food access are a fundamental part of this, as a basic need to sustain our lives.”
Sochacka continued:
“This is something that the Trump Administration is at odds with. We’ve seen how they’ve cut SNAP benefits from communities in need across the country. Food scarcity and insecurity are not new. This is a systemic injustice that has been left underfunded and unacknowledged by those in power, like the current Trump Administration, and very much coinciding with our climate crisis. (You didn’t think I was going to come up here and only talk about food and not talk about climate crisis, right?) Both challenges are large and overlapping, yet only those who are directly impacted feel the burden, while this administration exacerbates it tenfold.
“When it comes to the climate crisis, the impacts are sometimes so out of sight and out of mind that we forget how they influence our day-to-day lives, instead of finding solutions to these issues. The Environmental Protection Agency, which is supposed to protect our environment, as its name suggests, is now attempting to claim that the climate crisis is beneficial to us, contradicting the general scientific consensus and past reports, even though we’re living through this crisis, where seasons are fluctuating.
“This can get really depressing, and I apologize, but it’s just reality. Droughts and wildfires are constant, and we’re experiencing extreme weather with heavy rainfall and floods, all of which affect our soil, pollinators, and crops, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg - the ones that are melting right now in this domino effect. Food scarcity increases alongside our already high food costs and other rising living costs, and consequently, our access to the food we need will also rise. I’m not even going to tackle the issue of corporations profiting as much as possible on basic needs like food right now.
“By the way, this is my volunteer work. My regular job is in recovering food. You guys should look up how much food gets thrown out simply because it’s not being sold, which is about a third of all food in grocery stores across the country. It’s wild, but one problem at a time; otherwise, we’ll be here all day, and it’s freezing.
“We are part of an ecosystem that fundamentally works to keep us alive. We work with the land in order to live, and we have a right to do so, which includes eating, but the Trump Administration does not seem to care. They only care about their own personal agendas and the interests of their corporate donors. They don’t care if we can survive tomorrow, as long as they can take every penny, while ensuring we get little to nothing. I personally find it odd that we have equated a person’s worth and value based on their income.
“I’ve heard people defend cutting SNAP benefits, as if the value of another person and their right to food is something that can be questioned. It makes me ask, “Are they saying that a person doesn’t have a right to live? Do we not have a right to exist as a living being, to feed ourselves and our families, and live on a planet that has a livable future?
“We have a fundamental right to clean air, water, and land, and therefore, sustenance. When did these ideas become far-fetched, far-left, and radical? I don’t trust this administration to do the right thing because, let’s just be honest, they consistently haven’t. You’re here, helping your community, and working together. You guys give me a lot of hope, and though it’s a small crowd, this is something we’re going to keep doing.
“Let’s keep fighting, showing up, and demonstrating to this administration that we take care of our homes and our neighbors, and we need to ensure a better tomorrow.”
Courtney Threats is a Butler Hospital Social Worker and SEIU 1199 NE member.
“I’m excited to talk to you about the Neighbor Food Network,” said Threats. “Every day, in the work that I do, I encounter people who are living with food insecurity. They are our neighbors, families, and friends. They are individuals who work multiple jobs to make a living. Food insecurity affects everyone from children to veterans to senior citizens.”
Threats continued:
“Recently, I visited a local food pantry, and I saw dozens of people walking away with orange slips of paper that stated they would have to wait an entire week before they could access food from that location. When I spoke with one of the organizers, I learned that the need for that week was exponentially greater than the week before. She also mentioned that basic donations, such as cereal, were critical for them to sustain their effort, allowing children to have breakfast. I couldn’t believe that in 2025, in one of the richest countries in the world, people were being turned away from a food pantry and forced to go hungry. That’s why my union siblings and labor partners, the AFL-CIO of Lake Rhode Island and the Teamsters, have come together with religious leaders and community organizations, such as Indivisible RI, to launch the Neighbor Food Network.
“The network has established 15 emergency food drop-off locations across Rhode Island. People can also donate to the United Way or sign up to volunteer. As social workers, we don’t just support individuals; we also examine the systems that impact the quality of each person’s life. In doing so, we recognize that supporting community changes the lives of the individuals that live in them, and the labor movement has maintained a longstanding commitment to uplifting our communities.
“No matter what happens in Washington, it is incumbent upon us all to act. This is our call to action, and I stand here today inviting you to join us by visiting neighborfoodnetwork.org. Sign up to volunteer or do something small because if each of us does something small, the impact will be great.”
“I’m not just here as a student,” said Christopher A. Garcia Diaz, a Senior at Central High School. “I’m here as a brother, son, and someone tired of watching the people he loves be discarded as if they don’t matter. When the government shut down, it wasn’t the rich who went hungry. It wasn’t the politicians or the bigwigs who starved. It was us, my family, and others like mine.”
Garcia Diaz continued:
“All of us who didn’t have the luxury of being independent of SNAP and surviving on our own. SNAP isn’t a charity. It’s a lifeline, and cutting it during a crisis isn’t a budget decision: it’s an attack on all of us. This is them letting us go so billionaires can have a couple more million in their pockets, while we have to fight for what little scraps we can get.
“We don’t see Congress skipping meals. We don’t see politicians going hungry. It’s single mothers, elders, and children: people who work so hard for so little.
“I grew up watching my mom hold it down alone. She’d come home too tired to eat the meals I cooked for her. She’d come home unable to move from the couch to her bed, and still, our fridge had something in it. We could still eat because of her, thanks to her strength and sacrifice.
“That’s strength, that’s love, and that’s exactly who this system targets. This isn’t about food anymore, it’s about power. They aren’t just cutting SNAP, they’re raising rents, underfunding schools, and making healthcare unaffordable. This isn’t about saving money; it’s about them getting a thrill out of deciding which of us gets to live and who doesn’t.
“We aren’t playing by their rules anymore. This system doesn’t work for us. If a nation this rich can let people starve, then this system is doing exactly as they planned. They made it this way to keep poor people poor, working people tired, and to keep us silent - but silence is no longer an option. We can’t stay down. We can’t continue to let them see us as subhuman. Just because we’re darker or from another place doesn’t mean we’re not still human. We deserve more than just survival. We deserve to live. We deserve to be stable, happy, and safe, and if those in power won’t give it to us, we’ll take it.
“We’ve seen what happens when we wait. They get bolder. They dig us a deeper hole. They gut our communities and pretend they understand our struggles. They raise our cost of survival just to make their pockets a little heavier. To those in power: This is a warning. We are no longer begging. We are demanding. Food, housing, healthcare, and education are all rights. We aren’t asking you for anything anymore. We are simply making sure you can no longer ignore us.
“This isn’t just about SNAP. This is so much more. It is about every system that tells us we are worth less. It’s about the privileged mocking our struggles. I’m not here to fight only for justice. I’m here fighting for our survival, just like every one of you. We are what keep this country going. We’re its backbone, and if we ever stop holding it up, it will collapse on itself. If we continue to advocate for ourselves, speak up, and fight, no one will have to choose between paying rent and feeding their children.
“We will do this until no one has to worry about being snatched off the streets because they don’t belong, so we can be seen as not only human, but as the unstoppable, hardworking force we are. I’m here fighting for my family, my mother, my baby brother, and everyone else who isn’t fighting for themselves. I’m fighting for those like you and me who get put down by the wealthy, and I’m speaking for what’s right even without an organization backing me. It’s not impossible for any one of us to speak. If we all try, we can’t be ignored.”
Representative David Morales is running for Mayor of Providence.
“Hunger is the oldest tool of tyranny,” said Representative Morales. “What we have seen over the last several months is an attempted fascist takeover of the federal government. They started with extremist rhetoric to keep our communities alarmed. They snatch our neighbors off the streets, and in their most recent ploy, the Trump Administration has forced tens of thousands and millions of Americans to go hungry. In each of those moments, right here in Providence and all across Rhode Island, our community has stood up. Whether it was the formation of the Deportation Defense Network, that has protected our immigrant communities on the ground, the countless demonstrations, like the No Kings Rally and some of the impromptu protests led by Indivisible and other local organizations on the ground, we have responded as a community, saying no to fascism and saying that we will not bow down to any form of tyranny.”
Representative Morales continued:
“In this newest iteration, where they try to starve our neighbors in need, working families, many of whom share the story that Christopher just shared with us, such as a working mom trying to bring a sense of stability to her children, and many of our immigrant households, are striving to have a better future for themselves.
“Our seniors are being forced to struggle on limited fixed incomes. Most not only face increasing housing costs but are now being told that the money they had saved to pay for their utility bills must be used to choose between food and a full payment of their utilities. These are the impossible choices our neighbors are being asked to make. But I want to reiterate: in Rhode Island, we continue to stand up and take care of one another, neighbor to neighbor.
“To our friends and neighbors, our brothers and sisters, and non-binary friends in the labor movement, to all the grassroots organizations here today - we have been able to put together a food drive that is going to guarantee that many of our food pantries, especially those that go overlooked, are receiving the help they need during this critical moment. We know that, now more than ever, demand is growing. Now, more than ever, our neighbors are feeling desperate and don’t know where to turn. But we have something special in our little state: the power of community that ensures that each time more lunacy comes out of DC, we’ll be here to take care of one another.
“Whether they continue to threaten our immigrant neighbors or force our neighbors to go hungry, we’re going to stand with each other... We can take care of one another. We can create change. The Neighbor Food Network started because neighbors identified a need, and together we’re going to bridge that gap.”
They act as if this is new, it's been going on since before COVID, or the Lehman fallout, and Occupy Wall Street and Iccupy Providence , besides Corporate Bailouts
YES to this entire article. Our system was unsupportive of poor and working people well before Trump, which is why I have a hard time listening to self-righteous speeches by our local congressional representatives. How about our educational system that start at age 5-6 when most other countries begin education by age two or earlier with early care and education available as public education. This means that in the USA parents are left shouldering the burden of finding safe, quality, affordable childcare for 5 years of their children's lives. Unless you are rich or very lucky, working people are faced with being unable to afford medical care, child care, rent/housing costs, food, transportation - in the richest country in the world and about the only country that doesn't help with these basic needs. What is the matter with us???