For Desirae Hunt, a single mother of three, the countdown to Nov. 1 isn’t about a holiday sale or a due date — it’s about whether she’ll be able to feed her children.

“I’m trying not to panic,” she said. “I work full-time, I go to school full-time, I donate plasma. I’ve done everything right. But if that card stops, I don’t know how I’ll feed my kids.”

The Cedar City mother’s food-stamp balance is already running low, and with state officials warning that benefits could end next month amid the federal government shutdown, she’s bracing for the worst.

Hunt is among approximately 177,000 Utahns enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program who could lose access to benefits after the federal government closed more than three weeks ago.

Hunt said she’s been through hard times b

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