PHOENIX (AZFamily) — As the government remains shut down, the clock was ticking for 40 million Americans and nearly 1 million Arizonans. Food assistance programs like SNAP are set to stop Nov. 1.

A rally held outside the Department of Economic Security office in downtown Phoenix highlighted the need for these programs. Families said they were holding their breath, wondering what life would look like without government assistance like SNAP.

SNAP is entirely federally funded through Congress, and as funding lapsed during the shutdown, those programs were on the chopping block. Just steps away from the Arizona State Capitol, dozens gathered holding signs, chanting and asking for what they called “life-saving assistance.”

People who used SNAP benefits to get by each took the microphone, sa

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