CLEVELAND, Ohio — United Way of Greater Cleveland launched a new online tool to help residents find food assistance as an ongoing federal government shutdown disrupts benefits for hundreds of thousands of local families.

The 211 Food Resource Finder, available at 211oh.org , allows people to quickly locate nearby food programs. The organization introduced the resource as calls to its 211 Helpline for food-related help have more than doubled in recent days.

“When families lose access to vital benefits like SNAP, it can quickly push them from stability into crisis,” Sharon Sobol Jordan, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Cleveland, said in a statement. “Right now, food is the number one need we’re hearing about as calls to United Way 211 have more than doubled.”

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