Furloughed federal employees wait in line for hours at a special food distribution by the Capital Area Food Bank and No Limits Outreach Ministries on Barlowe Road in Hyattsville, Maryland, on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
HYATTSVILLE, Md. (AP) — Ginette Young lined up with hundreds of furloughed federal workers Tuesday at a special food bank distribution in a suburb just outside the District of Columbia.
“I’m here because I haven’t had a paycheck for the last two weeks and a short paycheck for the two weeks before that. I had bills to pay and my credit cards paid for my doctor’s and doctor’s appointments. So I just need to restock the pantry a little bit just to get us through this crisis,” said Young, a 61-year-old auditor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Young, a county resident, was among hundreds of furloughed federal workers hoping for staples and fresh produce at the event sponsored by the Capital Area Food Bank and No Limits Outreach Ministries in Hyattsville.
Food security was at the center of the shutdown debate this week, as hundreds of thousands of furloughed government workers faced another loss of pay and 42 million recipients of federal food aid were told they will no longer receive benefits on Saturday.
The Trump administration said so will not tap emergency funds at the USDA to extend the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), despite clamorous cries from advocates and Democrats who say it’s perfectly legal for officials to apply the money for a rainy day.
“The longer the shutdown continues, the more distributions like this will become a real lifeline for so many,” said Radha Muthiah, president and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank.
“And I worry that the number of people will double or triple, both federally furloughed workers and those expecting SNAP benefits who are surprised on Saturday morning when they don’t receive them,” Muthiah said.
Food bank staff expected about 150 households to show up at the first distribution event for federal workers in early October. The organization had to quickly double its numbers, Muthiah said.
At Tuesday’s event, the food bank and No Limits Outreach Ministries brought enough food to serve 400 households. If you completely stop food aid to low-income families, the region’s hunger needs will skyrocket, Muthiah said.
“There are about 400,000 SNAP recipients across our region, and on average they receive about $330 in SNAP benefits for a family of two per month. So if that were interrupted at the expense of one meal in our region, that would be about 80 meals that would disappear from the tables of SNAP recipients in our region,” Muthiah said.
“That’s why we’re increasing our needs and buying more food to distribute to the community through our partners.”
Kale and collards are distributed
Tracy Bryce, 59, of District Heights, Maryland, unloaded kale and kale from the back of a U-Haul truck as hundreds of federal workers, work passes in hand, waited for the lunch counter to open.
Bryce, a retired U.S. Marshal with 34 years of experience, now volunteers with No Limits Outreach Ministries.
“I’ve been where they are,” Bryce said.
Byron Ford, 34, of Hyattsville sat for hours in a chair he brought with him that morning as temperatures topped 40 degrees.
“I’m just here today trying to get some food, just trying to provide healthy food for the family,” said Ford, who has two children, ages 4 and 7.
“We’re fortunate that we can provide things like this for people who don’t get a paycheck. So we’re lucky, we’re still blessed.”
As a civilian employee who works in finance at the Department of the Navy, Ford also worries about family members who receive SNAP benefits.
“We’re just spending our savings and trying to help,” he said.
Young said she remembers what it was like to need SNAP several decades ago.
“I was trying to work and study at the same time and I had my kid, so yeah, I had SNAP for a while. It’s meant to help people until they get back on their feet,” she said.
A furloughed government project manager, who did not want to give her full name for fear of losing her job, said: “It’s hard to be a political pawn.”
“They (legislators) are getting a chance to go home in the middle of all this and not be able to cope, to not continue to have conversations because they choose to dishonor the position that the people have put them in and still get paid while their people suffer,” she said.
Grocers and retailers are worried about the SNAP limit
Retailers and grocers, already bracing for losses if Republicans’ “big, beautiful bills” of SNAP cuts take effect, are also calling on lawmakers to reopen the government.
“We urge Congress to move forward now on a path that reopens the government and ensures that families relying on SNAP can access their November benefits without interruption or delay,” Food Industry Association Chief Public Policy Officer Jennifer Hatcher said in a statement on Oct. 21.
The already planned SNAP cuts are likely to cost grocery retailers hundreds of millions of dollars, industry groups have warned.
Grocery retailers estimate that the upfront costs of the upcoming recent SNAP requirements signed into law by President Donald Trump in July will cost convenience stores about $1 billion, supermarkets just over $305 million, supercenters like Walmart an estimated $215.5 million and diminutive stores about $11.8 million, an impact study said analysis last month by the Food Industry Association, the National Association of Convenience Stores and the National Grocers Association.
Ed Bolen, director of SNAP state strategies at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said retailers could suffer “very drastic” losses if SNAP were also phased out entirely on Nov. 1.
“Imagine a 100 percent cut for a month or so,” said Bolen of the left-leaning think tank.
The United Food and Commercial Workers union sent one letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins on Monday, calling on the agency to issue emergency funding to extend SNAP benefits beyond next week.
“Rising grocery costs are already threatening household budgets, especially for low-income families. A disruption in food assistance will only make matters worse, and workers in meatpacking, food processing and grocery stores could see their hours and wages reduced if there are no SNAP dollars to spend in their stores or on their products,” wrote Milton Jones, president of the union, which represents about 1.2 million workers, according to the organization.
