Meals banks and pantries have been experiencing historic demand since SNAP advantages halted on Nov. 1 for a lot of People as a result of federal authorities shutdown.
That halt affected almost 42 million People, lots of whom are older or low-income, and use advantages to assist pay for groceries and different necessities.
The federal government shutdown seems to be nearing an end, and White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned Wednesday that full SNAP advantages will likely be paid out as soon as the shutdown is resolved.
Nevertheless, meals help employees mentioned the restoration of meals help cannot come quickly sufficient as they wrestle to fill within the hole left behind by SNAP.
Cyndi Kirkhart, government director at Going through Starvation Meals Financial institution, mentioned she’s been working on the meals financial institution for 11 years and has by no means seen the surge in individuals she is seeing now, and that it’s greater than what she noticed in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Going through Starvation Meals Financial institution — which serves 17 counties in West Virginia, Ohio and jap Kentucky — mentioned some places within the southern a part of West Virginia have seen a 1,800% improve within the variety of households visiting.
Carrie Scarf, heart, and Natalie Cooper, left, present their SNAP paperwork at a meals distribution website in Frazer, Mont., on Nov. 10, 2025.
Mike Clark/AP
“Usually, we do cellular pantry distribution, that are vehicles [lining] up [and] we load their automobile up with meals,” she advised ABC Information. “On the most, we’ll see 250 households. The previous week, solidly, we now have seen 900 households at every distribution, at every website.”
Kirkhart mentioned their cellular pantries have seen such demand that as an alternative of sending massive field vehicles to load up provides on the meals financial institution, she has needed to ship tractor-trailers. She added that she solely has two tractor-trailers, which places a number of stress on drivers to load up and go to a number of distribution websites.
Kirkhart mentioned her group encourages people to go to the meals pantries for meals fairly than the financial institution, however they are going to nonetheless serve individuals who go to the financial institution.
“We’ll nonetheless have possibly, over the course of a month, 50 individuals that can present up straight on the meals financial institution for an emergency meals field,” she mentioned. “And these previous two weeks at the least, we now have had 60 a day. … It is continuous.”
In Washington state, meals banks are additionally seeing an exponential improve in guests. Jordan Beaudry, improvement and communications supervisor at North Assist Line — which supplies emergency providers together with meals assist — mentioned there was a surge on the two meals banks the group serves that has been years within the making.
Beginning in 2022, “we noticed our numbers virtually double in a single day, and it is simply been a gradual improve since then,” he advised ABC Information. “We’re serving twice as many people as we did three years in the past, and that’s kind of setting the stage going into this newest spherical of SNAP cuts and the federal government shutdown. … We have seen only a huge improve within the quantity of oldsters accessing providers, significantly for the reason that pause on SNAP advantages.”
The newest demand started in October, when it was first introduced that SNAP advantages could also be halted in November, Beaudry mentioned.
From July by means of September, the banks noticed a median of 1,086 guests per week for the primary two weeks of the month, in response to knowledge offered by Beaudry. In October, the common for the primary two weeks was 1,136 per week. Final week, the banks noticed 1,329 visits.
At one of many meals banks, Beaudry mentioned the final Thursday in October was the very best variety of individuals the group has ever seen on a Thursday, with a couple of 14% improve in households visiting to obtain meals.
Equally, Kristen Wild, president and CEO of starvation aid group Operation Meals Search, which serves 25 counties in Missouri and Illinois, mentioned the pantries, shelters and neighborhood websites the place the group’s provides are distributed are seeing will increase in individuals visiting between 30% and 50%.
She described a distribution occasion final week throughout which Operation Meals Search had ready 700 meals to situation beginning at 10 a.m. CT. An hour earlier than the occasion, the road of vehicles was 500 lengthy and greater than 200 households needed to be turned away.
Individuals wait in line at a Central Texas Meals Financial institution distribution at Nelson Discipline on Nov. 4, 2025, in Austin, Texas.
Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman by way of Getty Photos
“We have had companies report back to us that they’ve needed to shut down sooner than their typical working hours as a result of they’ve run out of meals,” she advised ABC Information. “We’re seeing companies are being approached by individuals in search of meals who’ve by no means wanted to make use of a pantry up to now as a result of the SNAP advantages have been adequate sufficient for them to get the meals sources that they wanted.”
The group additionally runs a metro market program, which is sort of a cellular grocery retailer, that has seen a surge in clients.
This system expenses for meals at or under value however has lately began issuing $15 vouchers to clients as a result of improve in demand, Wild mentioned. Employees have additionally needed to replenish cabinets a number of occasions all through a two-hour metro market cease as a result of improve in visitors.
Wild added that 90% of meals help comes from federal packages like SNAP and about 10% comes from meals banks and meals pantries. The halt in SNAP advantages has compelled meals banks to enter “overdrive” to make up as a lot of the hole as doable.
“We have had terrific neighborhood assist, each when it comes to extra meals donations, extra monetary donations, so we are able to buy extra meals, however we won’t make up for the total SNAP hole,” she mentioned.
