ATLANTA — The Atlanta Community Food Bank plans to use $5 million from its reserves to purchase more than 6 million pounds of emergency food as part of a crisis response to help north Georgians affected by the ongoing government shutdown and suspension of SNAP benefits.

Food bank leaders announced the plan Thursday, citing an “extraordinary level of demand” for food assistance as federal workers and contractors face furloughs and missed paychecks, coupled with a halt in SNAP funding anticipated to affect approximately 750,000 people in the food bank's coverage area. Statewide, nearly 1.4 million Georgians depend on SNAP each month.

“This will increase the Food Bank’s distribution volume by nearly 85% during this period,” a release shared with 11Alive said, “supplementing its inventory

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