It’s been years since a government shutdown happened, but recent DOGE cuts have already impacted the Capital Area Food Bank. A prolonged shutdown is only going to increase the pressure there.
It was just last week that the food bank released its 2025 Hunger Report, showing that over 40% of laid-off federal workers and contractors in the region were dealing with food insecurity. It was facing the possibility of being asked to assist with providing millions of more meals every year.
Now, demand could spike even sooner than that.
“When there is a government shutdown, there are many federal government workers at income levels that don’t give them that much of a financial cushion if they’re supporting families,” Capital Area Food Bank CEO Radha Muthiah said. “So we know that a sudden loss of income could also mean a sudden inability to put food on the table.”
The last time the government shut down in 2018, local feds went more than a month without pay. Calls for help started coming in after the first paycheck was missed and demand for food assistance increased as week two turned into an eventual five-week lapse.
“We had different pop-ups across the region … focused in areas where we knew there was a higher density of federal government workers, and we were out there twice a week at five or six different locations across the region, providing food to those who needed it,” Muthiah said.
“The first week, I remember when we had the special pop-up distributions, we may have had 100 or so people in line,” she added. “But by the second or third distribution, these were hundreds of individuals.”
Now, Muthiah said, with many speculating that this current shutdown will be prolonged, they’re bracing for a repeat of that. The goal is to start preparing now so that if paychecks are missed, they’ll be able to start holding similar pop-up giveaways again.
“Our philosophy is that to be ready, we have to stay ready, which is why we’re continuously monitoring events that could impact our region so that we can respond quickly,” she said. “Our partners already know who they are, and we have plans to get the additional food to them in about two weeks, and then for as long as it takes until the government reopens.”
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
