Taylor Swift fans are a powerful bunch. And in a situation where millions of Americans risked going hungry with the potential halt of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the group is using that power for good.
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On Friday (Oct. 31), the Swifties for Hope account on X shared an announcement encouraging followers to make donations of $13 — a certain pop star’s favorite number — to Feeding America. The hunger relief organization’s efforts will soon be needed more than ever as the White House gears up to halt SNAP benefits on the first day of November.
“We protect the family,” reads a sparkly orange banner attached to the post, referencing a lyric from Swift’s “Father Figure.” “Swifties for Hope is fundraising for Feeding America to help support food banks nationwide.”
The group — which describes itself as a “Swiftie coalition mobilizing fans to protect democracy” — also included a link to Feeding America’s donation page. The push comes after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it didn’t have the money to pay for food stamps amid the government shutdown. Also on Friday, a federal judge ordered the Donald Trump administration to continue paying for the program even as the government’s halt on operations continues.
The Swifties’ new initiative — which parallel’s Swift’s own commitment to donating to local food banks along her Eras Tour route in 2023 and 2024 — is just the latest charitable act the fandom has organized. Less than a couple of weeks ago, they mobilized to raise money for Lilah, a 2-year-old girl battling brain cancer, to whom Swift made headlines for quietly donating $100,000.
A few weeks before that, the singer’s listeners did something similar for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, raising more than $2 million for otter conservation efforts after noticing Swift wearing one of the aquarium’s vintage T-shirts.
See Swifties for Hope’s call to action amid the SNAP benefit cuts below.
