Federal workers form line down the block for food pantry as shutdown hits third-week mark

(CNN) — Summer Kerksick waited in line for two hours Tuesday to receive a box of canned and dry goods at a food bank event for federal workers amid the ongoing government shutdown.

“With my rent due next week, I can take anything I can get,” Kerksick, a federal contractor and market research analyst with the Rural Export Center in the US Department of Commerce, told CNN.

“I haven’t gotten a paycheck this month, so the free groceries is very important, very helpful,” she added as she stood outside the event, which was organized by a DC food bank and a local religious group. “I’ve got to save every dime at this point.”

Kerksick is among the roughly 1.4 million federal employees who have been furloughed or are now working without pay.

Lawmakers have yet to reach an agreement to pay federa