NEW YORK (WABC) -- SNAP recipients are struggling to make ends meet with the program halted as the government shutdown -- the longest ever -- continues.

SNAP helps nearly 42 million Americans feed their families -- low-income working folks, senior citizens, the disabled and others who qualify.

"Innocent people don't need to suffer because you have two parties in Congress that can't agree," said SNAP recipient Patricia Brooks, a retired cat fancier who has spent the last six years volunteering at a local food pantry.

"It's giving back," she said of her food distribution work. "We're getting a lot more people than usual."

Brooks is one of those tens of millions of Americans who will feel even more of a pinch at the grocery store as the government shutdown continues.

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