As the end of federal food aid due to the ongoing government shutdown looms closer , food pantries across the state are bracing for a surge in demand from hungry Rhode Islanders.

More than 140,000 Rhode Islanders depend on SNAP – known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – to feed themselves. But funding for the program is set to end Nov. 1 unless Congress overcomes a partisan stalemate and passes a budget bill.

On Tuesday, Oct. 28, Gov. Dan McKee declared a state of emergency and announced he would shift $6 million from other federal programs to temporarily fund SNAP in Rhode Island.

The emergency funding may momentarily stave off a sudden food crisis, but if the government shutdown continues, food pantries warn that tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders, particularly c

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