CHEYENNE — As the government shutdown passes the three-week mark, food pantries in Wyoming’s largest city are stretching their already limited resources to meet an increasing population in need of assistance.

Statewide, an estimated 6,000 federal employees are not working or receiving paychecks, and with nowhere else to turn, many are going to local food pantries to make ends meet.

“We have people who are coming in for the very first time in their lives who are employed, but they just happen to be in a bad position,” Needs Inc. Executive Director Kristen-Erin Balderaz said. “They would not qualify for food stamps on their own or anything like that, but they’re in a unique situation where they don’t have any income, and they have nowhere else to turn.”

With F.E. Warren Air Force Base bei

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