Students working in The Warming House, December 2024
Photo courtesy of Alice Miller Nation
BY: CHRIS DOODY, CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The Warming House saw a 123.13% increase in guests served in October compared to the start of the year. More guests are expected due to cuts with national SNAP funding, according to Alice Miller Nation, Director of University Ministries at St. Bonaventure University. The Warming House, opened in 1974, is a student-run soup kitchen based out of St. Bonaventure University’s Franciscan Center For Social Concern housed in the McGinley-Carney Center on campus.
“Looking back, there’s a trend of guests at The Warming House that has been increasing since [the beginning of the year,]” said Miller Nation. “We track how many guests come monthly.”
In January 2025, The Warming House went back to its pre-COVID policy of one meal per person, although people could get authorized to take meals to others, according to Miller Nation.
“…Our numbers dipped in January and February but it’s slowly been creeping back up. Right now I don’t anticipate [the numbers of guests] backing off again,” said Miller Nation. “Everyone [still] gets a substantial, generous and nutritious meal.”
According to data provided by Miller Nation, The Warming House served 441 guests in January and 984 guests in October 2025, a difference of 543 guests. Nearly every month since January 2025 has seen an increase.
- February 2025: 559 guests, 26.76% more than January.
- March 2025: 721 guests, a 28.98% increase from February.
- April 2025: 767 guests, a 6.38% increase from March.
- May 2025: 824 guests, a 7.43% increase from April.
- June 2025: 746 guests, a 9.47% decrease from May.
- July 2025: 925 guests served, a 23.99% increase from June.
- August 2025: 938 guests, a 1.41% increase from July.
- September 2025: 1047 guests, a 11.62% increase from August.
- October 2025: 984 guests, a 6.02% decrease from September.
According to the United States Census, 10,959 people in Cattaraugus County, N.Y., received SNAP benefits, in 2022. The City of Olean has a population of around 13,890 and a poverty rate of 24.10%, according to a 2023 survey. That means about 3,347 people in Olean were living in poverty, in 2023.
As of the date and time of publication, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul had recently released a statement regarding SNAP benefits for New Yorkers.
“I’m fast-tracking over $100 million in state funds to keep food banks and pantries open so New Yorkers can put food on the table,” said Hochul. “But state resources can only go so far. President Trump must fully fund SNAP and Republicans in Congress need to end the GOP shutdown before more families suffer.”
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is a federally funded program that provides food-purchasing assistance to help recipients maintain adequate nutritional health. SNAP helps low-income, no-income, senior citizens, people with disabilities and others feed their families.
Miller Nation said while they are preparing for an increase in meals served with the uncertainty that people are facing financially, The Warming House is also educating their student volunteers and employees about SNAP and how it works.
“It’s been really interesting the last few days, [we’re] unsure of what will happen,” said Miller Nation. “[We’ve been] educating our students who work at The Warming House and at the SBU food pantry about what SNAP is, who receives SNAP and how much money people receive on SNAP.”
Miller Nation said it is important to understand The Warming House is making an impactful difference within our community.
“We really try to share with our students who help run The Warming House…that it’s not just putting a meal together six days a week,” said Miller Nation. “It’s all that goes in and the thinking and the decisions behind that.”
The Warming House is prepared to serve guests during uncertain times and has a system to ensure guests won’t leave hungry.
“Something we learned during COVID was to always keep 4 to 6 weeks worth of product in our pantry at The Warming House,” said Miller Nation. “So that when we have weather challenging times, we can make sure we can feed our guests for 4 to 6 weeks. Then during that time, look at our resources [and find] what we can do to get this or that or whatever we need. [Basically it comes down] to good planning and budgeting. Conservative spending at The Warming House makes it work over time.” Miller Nation also said that, “[The Warming House receives] a grant from Feed MORE WNY, so we get a lot of our food for pennies on the dollar.”
The Warming house is not only funded by this generous grant, though that is a large help. Miller Nation said that The Warming House will also benefit from the National Day of Giving (Giving Tuesday) which falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
“On December 2, we have Giving Tuesday coming up,” said Miller Nation. “Giving Tuesday is a day of giving, as many people enter a season of giving. This is their opportunity to give to their favorite charities [like] The Warming House and all the other outreach programs of the Franciscan Center for Social Concern. With people being generous on that day, we will be fine [and not need to worry about an increase in guests].”
Miller Nation said as Franciscan-hearted people, when an issue like this comes up, we must put our judgements in our pockets. Not verbalizing our judgements out loud regarding people’s financial decisions can be an act of compassion. Going back to the university values of compassion, wisdom and integrity, we must choose to be helpful in a way that benefits people all around.
“Nobody chooses to be poor,” said Miller Nation. “[Offering] assistance for very real things, which are necessities to life, is the Franciscan response of compassion.”
