The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) costs around $8 billion per month and helps approximately 42 million low- and no-income Americans buy food and other groceries. Preliminary data from the USDA shows the value of SNAP benefits sent out to recipients in May 2025 was $7,864,859,076—the latest month for which data is available.

Nearly a month into the shutdown, food banks across the country are already straining to meet rising demand. Now, they are bracing for an even bigger surge.

Already strained by federal funding cuts earlier in the year and a surge in demand from furloughed federal workers, food banks face a fresh wave of need as SNAP benefits end Saturday.

To help meet the community’s needs, the Weld Food Bank has added food distribution hours, scheduled additional mobile food pantry stops and purchased nearly $250,000 of additional food.

Mayor Freddie O’Connell joined officials at Second Harvest Food Bank to announce the launch of the “Hunger Can’t Wait” campaign. It is an emergency effort to increase food distribution and strengthen partnerships as federal SNAP funding is set to stall.

Federal workers at Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville airports receive thousands of meals as local authorities partner with food banks to support unpaid TSA and FAA employees.

Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency and the Yolo Food Bank are preparing for emergency food distributions to residents in need with the possibility of SNAP food assistance delays. The distributions are scheduled for the first two weeks of November,

per the California Association of Food Banks. “Food banks across California are anticipating an increase in demand and will need ongoing support to meet rising needs,” the California Association of Food Banks said in a statement to the Desert Sun ...