The federal government will stop payments to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients if the shutdown continues. Food bank volunteers in Southwest Virginia are mobilizing to help.

The staff at the Rich Township food pantry prepared 200 bags of food, twice the usual amount, on Thursday in anticipation of a surge in demand after news that many likely will not receive their food stamps next month.

Elizabeth Martinez and Augustina Morea sat in their car at a parking lot on a rainy morning while waiting for a food pantry to open.