Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC warns of possible impacts from federal shutdown

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- As the government shutdown enters its second day, local organizations that receive federal funding are sounding the alarm about possible impacts for Triangle residents.

That includes the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, which is already navigating the increased demand that's taken place amid federal cuts to SNAP, as well as losses of some of their funding.

"We're uncertain about so much for the future and we try to continue to plan for all uncertainties. But it's really tough right now," said Amy Beros, CEO of the food bank.

Beros says the announced cuts to SNAP took place at a time there was already increased need for their services across the Triangle and beyond.

"Two years ago, there were 450,000 people facing food insecurity in our 34 counties. Today there's more than 600,000. And we know that that number is even low because of the increase that people are seeing month over month through the pantries that we work with," she said.

When the government shut down for the last time in 2018, that lasted a record 35 days, many of the tens of thousands of federal workers across North Carolina turned to food pantries for help while they were living without a paycheck. That's an increase organizations like the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina are now bracing for, on top of the new demand caused by SNAP cuts.

"It's at a time when we've seen our food supplies reduced from the federal government. We've seen our funding from federal and state level reduced. So we are already planning for a deficit and at the same time, our need continues to increase," Beros said.

Beros said if there's a longer-term shutdown, they'll need to lean more on community generosity for help, but it's going to be a struggle.

"It means that our food and hunger crisis continues to spiral and the ripple effects of that are huge. Even if you aren't somebody facing hunger, you're touched by hunger in our communities because these are our neighbors," Beros said.

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