(Radio Iowa) – Food banks across Iowa are seeing exceptionally high demand since SNAP payments temporarily ended this past weekend due to the federal government shutdown. Julia Nelson, with the Hamilton County Social Service office in Webster City, says people who are being impacted by the interruption in SNAP benefits should plan ahead for long lines at Iowa food pantries. “Yes, absolutely,” Nelson says. “We do have a lot of low-income people here in Hamilton County and that is a huge impact for those people.” According to the latest study from the group Feeding America, 12-percent of all Iowans and almost 17-percent of Iowa children face food insecurity. That translates to 385-thousand people who don’t know where they will find their next meal, including 120-thousand children. Nelson says the only avenue left for many SNAP recipients is to use community food pantries until the government reopens.

“Honestly, as of right now, I sadly believe that the only help that we can get right now is the food banks that we have around town here,” Nelson says, “which, luckily, we do have quite a few.” Ryan Bobst is the executive director of the North Liberty Community Food Pantry. “I think there’s a lot more neighbors that are seeking assistance now, in anticipation of the SNAP cuts going into effect because of the government shutdown, so now that they are experiencing that, we will see what this week brings,” he says. A woman who gave her first name — Chakia — but declined to give her full name was at the North Liberty Community Food Pantry yesterday (Monday). She had hoped the government shut down would end so she could get enough food to feed her four children, two of who have special needs.

“Of course that didn’t work out, so especially with Thanksgiving coming, it’s not ideal,” she said. The 63-thousand Iowans who receive Women, Infants and Children benefits have continued to receive payments during the shutdown, but the nearly 271-thousand Iowans who received SNAP benefits in September and October are affected. Federal data shows 14-point-four percent of the residents of Des Moines County in southeast Iowa received SNAP in September — the highest percentage of any Iowa county. The unemployment rate in Des Moines County — the Burlington area — was five-point-two percent in August.