CLEVELAND — With SNAP funding now lapsed because of the federal government shutdown, food banks across Northeast Ohio are bracing for a surge in demand.

The Greater Cleveland Food Bank says it already saw a 40% increase in visitors last week — before the crisis even began.

Inside the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, volunteers are back to packing up disaster boxes, a job many thought they’d left behind after the pandemic.

The sound of tape sealing boxes echoes through the warehouse as dozens of people work assembly-line style to fill each box with staples like pasta, rice, and canned vegetables.

“That was a very trying time,” said volunteer Shawana Hanson, remembering the early days of COVID-19. “And here we are — we find ourselves in another trying time.”

Hanson, who typically voluntee

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