U.S. Headlines

Photos: Food banks scramble to get ready as SNAP funding deadline looms

By Jaclyn Diaz,

Maansi Srivastava

Published October 31, 2025 at 10:40 AM PDT

Volunteers with New York Common Pantry unload food on Thursday in New York City. Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a "food emergency" in New York, allowing for extra emergency funds and personnel to be deployed as SNAP payments will be suspended nationwide starting due to the federal government shutdown. The emergency declaration will bring in an additional $65 million in emergency food funding and will allow CUNY and SUNY students to be deployed across the state to help with food distribution.

Updated October 31, 2025 at 2:07 PM PDT

On Saturday, some 42 million people in the U.S. who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, could lose the ability to afford food because of the ongoing government shutdown.

The Trump administration has warned that the debit-like EBT cards that hold an individual's SNAP funds won't be refilled when the money runs out on Nov. 1 — despite millions in emergency contingency money being available.

On Friday, two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to use emergency funding to provide SNAP benefits. But it was unclear how much assistance may be provided or when it might come.

This comes as more than 700,000 federal workers are furloughed without pay or continue to work without their regular paychecks also because of the government shutdown.

These crises have placed immense pressure on food banks and food pantries across the country to fill in and provide much needed supplies for hungry families.

California National Guard members sort produce at the Los Angeles Food Bank on Wednesday.

A member of the U.S. Navy waits in line among people of the military community to receive free food from volunteers with the Feeding San Diego food bank on Oct. 24 in San Diego.

A federal worker moves through a distribution line at an event giving food to federal workers affected by the government shutdown in Hyattesville, Md., on Oct. 21.

Antoinette Phillips, a federal employee, collects food from a Capital Area Food Bank distribution center in Hyattsville, Md., on Tuesday as the U.S. government shutdown continues.

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., speaks during a rally with faith leaders, food bank workers and furloughed federal employees in front of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington on Friday. The rally and food drive brought together people who demanded that the Trump administration release $6 billion in emergency funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps 42 million people pay for groceries every month.

Federal workers, including Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers and air traffic controllers, line up to receive food parcels at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Monday as the workers have been impacted by the government shutdown. The morning event was organized by the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), the state's largest anti-hunger organization. The dozens of federal workers who attended the event received one box of nonperishable items, one premium 10-pound produce box, along with potatoes, spaghetti squash, and apples.

A Transportation Security Administration worker carries a box of food away from a mobile food pantry set up for TSA employees and other federal workers affected by the government shutdown, at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport on Wednesday.

Jessica Benites, with Feeding South Florida, helps load essential food items into the vehicles of government workers on Tuesday in Dania Beach, Fla. As the government shutdown nears four weeks, Feeding South Florida launched a food distribution site for government employees who have been impacted. The organization handed out food items to approximately 250 families in need during the event.

Simone Matthew, a volunteer with Feeding South Florida, helps load essential food items into the vehicles of government workers on Tuesday in Dania Beach, Fla.

People line up to get food from City Impact Urban Food Bank in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Many food banks in Nevada are among countless across the country that will need to find other ways to increase food supplies amid the loss of SNAP funding due to the government shutdown.

A box of food, enough to feed a family of four for a week, sits ready for pickup at City Impact Urban Food Bank in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

California Army National Guard members sort apples to be packed into food boxes at the LA Regional Food Bank on Wednesday. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has deployed National Guard troops to food banks in the state to help prepare emergency food boxes for distribution to residents who will lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits due to the federal government shutdown.

A volunteer packs items for distribution at the Oregon Food Bank in Portland on Wednesday.