Government shutdown threatens food banks

Matt Drahnak, who is furloughed from his job with the U.S. Forest Service, has been helping out at Storehouse New Mexico.

“I needed to get out of the house and do something that would benefit others,” he said.

Swarupa Watlington, the executive director of Storehouse New Mexico, said they need more people to step up and help.

She claims there have been more new faces showing up at the food pantry since the government shutdown began.

“Typically, on an average day we see about 150 people,” Watlington said. “Now we're seeing an upsurge so we're processing about 200-210 a day.”

The Roadrunner Food Bank, which supplies food to pantries across the state, may end up with less food because of the government shutdown.

In addition to donations, it gets from the United States Department of Agriculture, which is impacted by the shutdown.

“That's huge for us, you know. That's almost a million pounds of what available food we have in our inventory at any given time,” said Sonya Warwick, communications officer for the Roadrunner Food Bank.

Click here for donate to the Roadrunner Food Bank or Storehouse New Mexico.