PARRAMORE, Fla. – Next month, there may be no food for thousands of families in Central Florida who depend on federal nutrition assistance, according to state officials and local advocates.

The Florida Department of Children and Families has notified recipients that if the federal government shutdown continues into November, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will not be issued until Congress restores funding .

“It’s going to be chaos big time,” Krista Williams, a Parramore resident, said at Saturday’s community food giveaway. “This is help for now, but I wish they would do more, whatever it’s going to take.”

Williams said she relies on SNAP to stretch her grocery budget each month and worries about neighbors who will be left with nowhere to turn.

[EXCLUSIVE

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