Food pantries are feeding more people as the disruption in federal nutrition aid takes hold.
One pantry in Sandwich is helping new clients — and receiving extra donations — in response to the government shutdown delaying benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Four new households signed up for the Sandwich Food Pantry last week alone, compared to the usual one or two a month, said the pantry director, Gigi Ridgley.
“And that's going to grow, because this has just started,” she said.
Not all families receive their food assistance at the beginning of the month. So, as November wears on, more will be going without, she said.
But donors are responding to the need.
“We have absolutely had more donations, and thank God, because we've got more clients, too,” she said. “They always step up here in Sandwich. I've been doing this for 37 years at this food pantry. And the people have always stepped up when we had a problem — when we were in need.”
The Trump administration says it will provide half the usual food benefit in November, following a court order to use contingency funds for the program. Arrival of benefits will be delayed.
Even before the shutdown, rising grocery prices presented a challenge for local pantries, Ridgley said.
“Even our donations aren’t going as far as they used to, because food is so high,” she said. “Where you used to pay two dollars for something, now you're paying three or four dollars for that same item.”
The all-volunteer Sandwich Food Pantry serves about 400 Sandwich households.
Ridgley said donations of non-perishable food items — “anything in a can or a box, that people can eat” — are welcome. So are monetary donations, because when pantries buy in bulk at the Boston Food Bank, the money goes farther.
The pantry is one of many on the Cape and Islands. Barnstable County maintains a list of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket food pantries and meal sites.
The county also has a chart explaining the difference between shutdown-related SNAP delays and permanent changes to the program from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
