During weeks of anxiety over threats to federal food assistance, Salem food pantries received tens of thousands more pounds of donated food to help feed the community.

The Marion Polk Food Share saw record levels of donations and need from the community while a federal government shutdown delayed food benefits for thousands of local families.

The 49 local pantries the food share supplies recorded 20,000 visits in October, according to Sam West, the food share’s spokeswoman. Monthly visits had already been close to recent record-highs with 17,000 visits per month, Salem Reporter previously reported .

Monthly benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program did not go out Nov. 1 as planned due to a shutdown of the federal government that lasted over a month. Benefits to Orego

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