KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A local former pastry chef will appear is appearing on 'Holiday Baking Championship" this season, which premieres Monday at 7 p.m. Central.

That chef has since traded in her apron for a clipboard managing a local food pantry.

Erin Luttrell says with the federal government shutdown and SNAP benefits in limbo her timing on the national stage couldn't have been better.

President Donald Trump said Monday America's 42 million SNAP recipients could expect too half those benefits funded in November through contingency funding.

A dozen bakers will show off their best holiday creations each week on Holiday Baking Championship. When producers first started talking to Erin Luttrell about being a contestant the pastry chef was the owner/operator of the Independence bakery Eclai

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