As the government shutdown stretches into another week, more families are struggling to put food on the table.

Catholic Charities Jacksonville says demand at its food pantry is surging — forcing the organization to make difficult decisions just to keep up.

What used to be a busy food distribution process is quickly turning into a crisis response, according to Eileen Souter, of Catholic Charities Jacksonville.

The lines for food have been growing longer every week since the start of the shutdown.

“Just this week, we’re starting to see people who are reporting that they have lost their SNAP benefits,” Souter said. “We had someone in our line yesterday who said they were supposed to get their food stamps on Monday, and they didn’t show up. They needed to come to the food pantry to fill th

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