HENDERSON, Ky. — At El Sabor de La Abuela , a family-run Mexican restaurant that’s been open just 11 months, brothers Jose and Brian Flores are dishing out free meals of rice, beans and a choice of taco or burrito to anyone hit by the pause in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

The brothers, who manage the day-to-day operations while their parents own the restaurant, said they couldn’t sit idle as the government shutdown threatened to cut off November’s SNAP payments for the portion of the hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians that live in their area.

ago“We’re like, ‘Bro, can you imagine how many people are gonna suffer if the government shuts down?’” Jose Flores recalled the conversation with his brother two days ago, as they scrolled through news alerts on Facebook.

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