MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- "How do you pay your rent and how do you afford to eat at the same time?" asked a Merced father of three who relies on food benefits.

These are the real questions many who are food insecure are asking themselves.

A common sight in this new and uncertain reality are lines of people stretching longer as the budgets of SNAP recipients shrink -- amid a government shutdown with no clear pathway to reopening.

"Going paycheck to paycheck and then now on top of it, still trying to feed our kids, it's pretty tough," said mother Jaime Mounce.

Mounce says the last time she saw funds on her EBT card was on November 1.

Hundreds arrived at a community food giveaway in Merced on Friday. Volunteers with the Merced County Food Bank joined in to help feed the need.

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