By Saturday, the hundreds of thousands of Fresno area families using SNAP or CalFresh won’t be able to access the money that supplies food for their pantries.

And, even an 11th hour refunding by the federal government won’t be in time to get the program funded. Thus Fresno nonprofits are gearing for a deluge of demand.

Zack Darrah, CEO of the Poverello House, says they’re expecting twice the 1,000 people they would normally serve at their restaurant a day.

“We’re talking about making our dining area larger, putting more outdoor dining, making sure that we have enough food ordered just in case,” Darrah said. “We’re prepared to see a much higher volume of people coming in.”

The five counties served by the Central California Food Bank use about $2.4 million of benefits, said Kym Dildine,

See Full Page