IDAHO CITY, Idaho — In rural Idaho City, where one food pantry serves dozens of families every two weeks, volunteers are bracing for potential federal budget cuts that could deepen food insecurity in an already underserved community.
The Boise Basin Senior Center and Food Pantry distributes food to about 45 families twice monthly, making it a critical lifeline for residents like Cherie Bailey, who has relied on the resource for five years while raising her adopted grandson on Social Security income.
“I’m an older senior, raising a grandson that I have adopted, and I just have my social security check, and the food bank helps out immensely,” Bailey said. Without the pantry, she said, “I’d be broke by the end of the month, completely broke because feeding myself and my grandson, it gets harder with the food prices.”…