LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The ongoing federal government shutdown is creating mounting concerns for food banks across Kentucky, with God's Pantry Food Bank warning that the situation could become catastrophic if the impasse continues.
Nearly 280,000 people in central and eastern Kentucky face food insecurity, with many relying on God's Pantry Food Bank for essential nutrition support.
"We pride ourselves every single day in being able to gather and distribute enough food so that folks can thrive," said Michael Halligan, the CEO of God's Pantry Food Bank.
"We are starting to hear about federal workers or contractors who are seeking food assistance. We anticipate that it will grow because they missed their first paycheck last week," Halligan added.
The situation could worsen dramatically if the federal government runs out of money for the SNAP program in the coming weeks, leading to a surge in demand for emergency food assistance.
"We anticipate that that will increase demand again," Halligan said.
The relationship between SNAP benefits and food bank operations is critical to understanding the potential impact.
"Every meal that a food bank distributes, SNAP gets about 9 meals into a household that's receiving that benefit," Halligan said.
"There are 600,000 people across central and eastern Kentucky who benefit from SNAP," Halligan added. "So if some of them now need access, emergency access to food from God's Pantry Food Bank, that number gets very large, very fast."
Adding to the challenge, God's Pantry receives about 25% of its inventory from federally funded programs, which are also at risk during the shutdown.
Now, the food bank's shelves currently appear well-stocked. But that's because 75% of their current inventory arrived before the government shutdown began. The reality is more concerning than appearances suggest.
"Those racks look pretty good right now, but it's still only three weeks' worth of food. A month from now if those racks are empty, we're having a very different conversation," Halligan said.
The food bank executive painted a stark picture of what lies ahead without resolution.
"The circumstances that I see right now are heartbreaking because we know we are not going to be able to keep up unless we've got a significant amount of additional resources," Halligan said.
Currently, 50% of God's Pantry's resources come from donations, totaling approximately $7 million annually.
"That number needs to be 3 times that if demand goes up to the degree that we think it could," Halligan said.
If food banks do exhaust their supplies, the consequences could extend far beyond immediate hunger.
"The ramifications of this could be far-reaching and they could be long term," Halligan said.
