FORT PIERCE — As the federal government shutdown stretches into November, the Treasure Coast Food Bank warned Monday that the crisis is worsening food insecurity for tens of thousands of local families, with SNAP benefits suspended for the first time in history and resources at the nonprofit pushed to the brink.
The food bank said that over 80,000 families along the Treasure Coast are no longer eligible for government food aid. This has led to an increase in the number of people visiting its food storage areas. Government workers aren’t receiving their paychecks and they’re incurring increasingly significant financial losses.
The organization stated that this disruption is already at high levels of food insecurity and deepening hardship for neighbors in the community. The organization noted that it is now serving more people weekly than at any point in its history, straining an already overburdened system…