NEW YORK (PIX11) – Some $30 million in emergency funds will help keep New York’s food pantries stocked during the government shutdown, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday that SNAP benefits will not be issued starting on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown. About 3 million New Yorkers receive SNAP benefits to buy food.

The money announced by Hochul will pay for 16 million meals in New York, she said. It'll go to food pantries, she said.

“This’ll support our food security network,” Hochul said at a news conference Monday. “It will help keep food pantries stocked, little kids’ tummies fed.”

Hochul said she already wrote to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins asking her to use federal emergency funds to protect SNAP beneficiaries.

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