KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Nirvana Comics is hosting a food drive from Oct. 27 to Nov. 3 to support local food pantries as SNAP benefits are set to expire.

With SNAP benefits set to run out of funding on Nov. 1 due to the ongoing government shutdown, food pantries in East Tennessee are facing more requests than usual. To help food pantries keep their shelves stocked, local business owners are hosting food drives to raise awareness of the growing concern of food shortages.

“It really came out of a place of kind of frustration,” said Nirvana Comics Co-Owner Grant Mitchell. “My wife and I saw the news that SNAP was running out on November 1st and that both on the state level and the federal level, officials had elected not to use reserves to pay for that, and it really broke our hearts.”

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