If the congressional deadlock on the federal government shutdown continues.

1 in 8 Kentuckians who rely on government food assistance may not be able to keep food on the table, and that could put more strain on food banks.

God's pantry CEO Michael Halligan stopped by our studios earlier today to talk about the impacts the shutdown is already having.

Well, welcome, Michael Halligan, it's good to have you.

Thank you so much for having me today, I appreciate it.

I know that you've been talking a lot about this issue, and I've seen it said or you quoted that says food insecurity in central and eastern Kentucky is already at historic heights, and a government shutdown is making it worse.

How bad is it?

Well, so let me give you one illustrative example.

Federal workers and contractors in central and eastern Kentucky number about 17,000.

Food insecurity across central and eastern Kentucky is 280,000.

So that could be another 7.5% increase to what we're already seeing, simply based on folks who all of a sudden are not receiving pay for the work they do or for the layoff that they're facing.

Yeah, we are at the time that we talked, and this will be on this evening, 23 days into this federal government shutdown.

I mean, what are you hearing from folks?

And are they coming?

Not volitional, but are they coming reluctantly, or do they feel embarrassed or what?

What are you hearing from people?

Reach out to you, perhaps for the first time.

You know, the range of emotions that we see is is very broad.

There are some who maybe have experienced hunger in the past who understand what to do, who, who understand that, there's no shame in asking for help.

There's no shame in giving support to be resilient.

We've got others who are experiencing this for the first time in their lives, and they don't know where to turn.

They don't know how to proceed.

And our role is to help provide comfort, to help people understand the process is here for you.

And this is a hand up.

And it's so important for people to recognize that a circumstance like this does not a fact does not define a person.

Right?

The circumstance is what we're trying to address, so that people can have a healthy, active lifestyle for a short period of time while the government is shut down.

Right.

Is this where it works for they get a week supply or food?

Or how?

What is the duration of the help that you're providing?

Can't provide?

It depends on the circumstances.

The data that we have for food insecurity suggests, right, that an individual who needs access from God's Pantry food bank through one of our 500 food pantry meal programs, it's about a week's supply.

But part of that is based on the fact that Snap benefits, right, are part of the solution, which we often refer to as food stamps, as food stamps, right.

And we know that if the government remains shut down for the next week and a half, there is a significant risk that Snap benefits will not be funded in November.

So now individuals who may already rely on Snap now, they don't have that benefit and they need to rely on a food pantry or meal program.

It's a compounding effect.

Our job is to make sure that people get the food they need to thrive.

Right.

And this has always been an issue.

But do you think there is more attention to food insecurity now because of the federal government inaction and the shutdown?

Well, you know, so I think there's a couple of things.

The inflationary pressures that we've seen over the last couple of years have definitely raised awareness, right.

The circumstances on people that are on fixed incomes or who are in part time jobs are more dramatic than they used to be because their budgets are stretched thinner.

So we've already seen an increase in awareness.

And when a circumstance like the shutdown or other economic, you know, situations emerge, that always increases the awareness a little bit more.

And for those perhaps, who are relying on your assistance, you also have to have a supply to meet the demand.

Tell us about that.

So we've been doing a lot of analysis.

Typically, you know, we carry between 3 and 4 weeks of food supplies at the food bank, right.

If we see an increase in demand and our food supplies remain flat, that availability of inventory starts to go down.

And so we're reaching out right now to food donors and to a lot of different organizations, and quite frankly, the general public, to help us secure additional resources so that we can maintain the services that people need to get the food on their table so they can be well nourished.

Guidelines for what should and can be donated and accepted.

So, from a food perspective, we can handle all all types of food, basically anything that's sold in a grocery store we can secure, we can properly store, we can properly distribute canned goods, peanut butter, meat, proteins, fresh produce, the entire spectrum.

From a financial standpoint, the research that we've done over the last couple of days says that for every month the government is shut down, we need an incremental $250,000 of financial support to be able to continue to provide the services that folks need to get food on their table throughout whatever the shutdown may be.

There are nearly 17,000 federal workers who live in the 50 counties served by God's Pantry Food Bank.

And a related item earlier this week, Governor Andy Beshear announced that his administration has reallocated $9.1 million for the senior meals program.

Following news that area development districts have exhausted all previously budgeted funding for the program.