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Cambridge’s food pantries are ramping up their distribution as the ongoing government shutdown limits the distribution of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The federal government has delayed the distribution of SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown, which has stretched on for 37 days. Directors of Cambridge Food pantries say these 37 days have seen a dramatic rise in demand for their services.

“The demand is just skyrocketing,” Tim Cavaretta, Senior Director of Operations at Food For Free, said. Food For Free is a nonprofit that transports food from the Greater Boston Food Bank to pantries throughout the Greater Boston area.

President Donald Trump announced the federal government would not issue SNAP benefits for November, triggering a lawsuit from 26 states. A federal judge then ordered the Trump administration to continue funding for the program, but Trump threatened to defy the order in Truth Social on Tuesday.

The White House quickly pivoted, announcing that SNAP benefits would be provided but reduced by 35 percent in November. In response, cities and nonprofit organizations filed another lawsuit asking a federal judge in Rhode Island to restore full benefits.

While some nonprofits have taken to the courts to get people the resources they need, some Cambridge food pantries are remaining open on holidays and working to increase their produce stock.

“We’re seeing new faces every single week,” Ryan Montbleau, the Community Programs Director of The East End House, said. He said a significant number of the additional hundred patrons last month had not visited their pantry in the past two years.

Zachary “Zach” Goldhammer, the Director of Engagement and Partnerships at the Cambridge Community Center, also said he has seen new faces at their pantry.

“We have more and more people coming to us every day,” he said. “More people who we wouldn’t normally see at our food pantry — including people who have stable jobs or stable employment.”

“That, for me, is even a bigger indicator that people who have not previously needed to access a food pantry are now in the position where they need to do that,” Alicia McCabe, Director of Strategic Programs and Operations at Margaret Fuller House, said.

Montbleau said that the number of patrons visiting the End East House pantry increased by about 100 in October, also a roughly 30 percent increase.

While demand has suddenly increased in the past weeks, food pantries have seen a steady rise that some say dates back to the pandemic.

“This crisis is just exacerbating problems that we’ve seen since the pandemic,” Cavaretta said. “It didn’t ever really go away.”

Goldhammer said the Cambridge Community Center served about 200 people a day during the pandemic, but that number fell to around 80 before beginning to rise again in 2023. Montbleau said that demand at East End House has also steadily grown over the past four years.

Almost all the directors said that donations and government support have been critical to meeting the current need.

“Our pantry moves about 12,000 pounds of food in and out of the pantry each week,” McCoys said, adding that the Margaret Fuller House would not have enough food if it had not been for the support of local organizations, individuals, and the city.

Montbleau added that the rapid pace of distribution has made it difficult to keep food on the shelves long enough to maintain product variety.

“Before, we had a surplus to be able to invest and save for that next week, to kind of create consistency and be less affected by availability,” Montbleau said. “Now, we’re just going through a much higher volume, that what we order is essentially going out right away.”

On Oct. 30, the City of Cambridge and the Cambridge Community Foundation announced that they would allocate $200,000 to support local food pantries. That money has yet to be distributed.

“We’re not necessarily waiting for it to come,” Montbleau said. “We are doing everything that we can until it happens, and then when it happens, we’re just going to try to improve and expand upon what we're already doing.”

“This is not like the beginning of challenges for local food programs, and we face this every single week,” Montbleau said. “We’re always having to navigate limited resources and increasing demand.”

— Staff writer Diego García Moreno can be reached at diego.garciamoreno@thecrimson.com.

— Staff writer Summer E. Rose can be reached at summer.rose@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @summerellenrose.