Louisville's Metro United Way is joining local organizations in helping fill the gaps for Kentuckians that rely on Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits.

Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency in Kentucky Oct. 31, allocating an initial $5 million to support food banks across the state with an executive order. The federal government paused the distribution of SNAP benefits Nov. 1, one month into the government shutdown .

Feeding Kentucky Executive Director Melissa McDonald said 100% of the money was distributed to food banks through wire transfers Nov. 3.

"Their estimated time to spend it is as soon as possible," she said. "None of them have said that they already have it spent, but I talked to two of our partner food banks, and they said that they have alre

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