By Candy Alexis D. Feliciano
For Variety
FOR over 40 days, the islands faced a terrifying reality. The essential food lifeline for more than 5,500 households was suddenly cut. The crisis peaked when the USDA announced that November’s food stamp benefits, officially the Federal Nutrition Assistance Program, could not be issued. This news hit just weeks before Thanksgiving.
The news created instant panic. For people like Isabel (not her real name), a single mother of three, the situation was desperate. She relied on the food benefits. Her extended family was struggling too, and the deep shame of asking for help daily felt unbearable.
Driven past her breaking point, Isabel made a difficult choice. Around 5 p.m. one evening, she anonymously posted a plea on the local Facebook group, “Speak Up Taotao.” She simply asked for help, terrified of being judged.
The community’s response was immediate. It was an amazing display of local solidarity.
The first person to message her was an elderly woman, a kind grandmother, who ignored all the politics. She only asked: “What is your location?”
They arranged to meet late that night, around 9:30 p.m. in the parking lot at Hannam. The transaction was private and discreet. The grandmother handed Isabel a small sack of rice, bread, milk, a tray of chicken legs with canned goods, and a crucial pack of diapers.
Isabel was overwhelmed. She broke down in tears, unable to say a word of thanks. They exchanged a silent, tearful hug. The kind woman just nodded and drove off. In that moment, Isabel felt the crushing weight of her isolation lift. Her hope was completely restored. She drove home to her children with a smile: “We have food,” she told them.
While the community rallied, the government found a solution. The federal shutdown ended on Nov. 12. Full November 2025 NAP benefits were restored and available by Monday, November 17, 2025, arriving just days before Thanksgiving.
The threat of a mass hunger crisis was avoided. This Thanksgiving, the CNMI celebrates not just the food on its table, but the generous heart of the community. It was the quiet, practical help from neighbors that proved no one would be left to face hunger alone.
