On a rainy, overcast Saturday morning dozens of people, some of them elderly and disabled and others with small children, filled a large seating area at the Trinity United Methodist Church and waited to be called into the church’s food pantry.

The pantry, called the Lord’s Cupboard, is located on the church’s property at 590 Elma Avenue S.E. and has been seeing a significant increase in people coming to pick up food for themselves and their families as the government shutdown stretches into its second month.

The ongoing federal government shutdown means millions of dollars in food benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program won’t reach recipients at the start of the month, despite a federal judge ruling Friday that the federal government must pay out those benefits. It

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