CHICAGO (WLS) -- From churches to Chicago Animal Care and Control, the local community is coming together in an effort to help those struggling without Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits during the government shutdown.

Thousands of families were given groceries through Progressive Baptist Church in Chatham Wednesday.

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Volunteers were out for hours as hundreds come to 75th Street and King Drive to get something to eat.

"Today, we ran into multiple families who had nothing until they got here," Pastor Charlie Dates said.

The senior pastor of both Progressive Baptist Church and Salem Baptist Church came up with the idea.

"Jesus said it this way, 'I was hungry and you fed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was in

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