Ashlie Stoddard reads stories to four of her eight children in the back of a 3,800-square-foot warehouse off Highway 99W in South Corvallis .

Some 40 other people sit patiently in the corner, waiting for someone to guide them through their grocery shopping and make sure they get just what they need but no more.

The South Corvallis Food Bank only has so much food, and there are a lot of hungry people. And the food supply is dwindling as the demand for it is expanding.

“We’re grateful that there are food banks that help us out,” Stoddard said. “We don’t come here unless we absolutely have to. The end of the month is always the hardest.”

As with many individuals and families, Stoddard’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as SNAP, are strained to the breakin

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