Ozarks Food Harvest is providing free groceries for federal government workers and their families who aren’t getting paid during the shutdown.
It will hold a giveaway Saturday morning, October 18, for those who have already signed up, and it’s planning another one next Thursday, October 23. Sign up for that event is underway here.
Jordan Browning, spokesman for the food bank, said a lot of federal employees are either missing a full or partial paycheck, and they wanted to help those who are struggling right now.
"We spent about $30,000 on food for this that wasn't budgeted. And we've got a really great spread for families in need," he said. "So this is going to be about 20,000 pounds of food total. It's going to contain protein, dairy, produce and shelf stable items. Each box is going to be roughly about 35 pounds, so this will be a really good spread of food for families that may be struggling right now."
He said they expect to serve around 300 families during the food giveaway Saturday.
The public can help meet the need of those families and others who are struggling with food insecurity right now by donating money or volunteering their time. Ozarks Food Harvest can purchase $10 worth of groceries with each $1 donated. And Browning said, on average, volunteers are sorting about 100,000 pounds of food per week, and since they're purchasing more food, that number is increasing.
You can find out more at ozarksfoodharvest.org.
He assured those on SNAP that the program is fully funded through the month of October, "and so folks don't need to worry about that." They'll provide an update if the government shutdown continues, he said, "but we just want to make sure to relieve any fears there that people will still be receiving benefits this month."
Later in the day, however, he told KSMU that "the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has instructed state agencies to temporarily suspend the issuance of November 2025 SNAP benefits."
This story was update at 2:38 p.m. on Friday.