JEROME, Idaho — The Idaho Democratic Party is moving forward with a statewide food drive to help feed struggling families, even after the longest-running U.S. government shutdown came to an end.
Eight different Idaho Democratic groups will host events in their respective counties from November 14-25 to help fill local food banks and pantries.
WATCH: Democratic groups across Idaho collecting food Nov. 14-25 to help struggling families
"The State of Idaho Democrats decided we needed to respond," said Anita Janis with the Jerome County Democrats. "We felt that it was time for us to stand up and say, 'what do the people need? What do the people want? And how can we help?'"
"Despite the change in what's going on— on the national level in the last day or so— there are still going to be shortfalls," Janis added.
As the government awakens from the longest shutdown in U.S. history, families across Idaho wait to hear when services and benefits will fully resume.
Janis says being a Democrat in south central Idaho can be lonely at times, but when she sees people in her community struggling, party affiliations mean nothing.
"One of the big obstacles that we all face right now is not enough money to buy groceries," Janis said.
RELATED | Idaho Hispanic Foundation sees double the demand for donated items
In Jerome County, all of the food collected will go to Martha and Mary's Food Pantry.
"We live in a very blessed community. We have several organizations that are helping us, and we greatly appreciate it. We definitely need to restock our shelves," said Jeff Schroeder with Martha and Mary's Food Pantry.
While thankful for the support, Martha and Mary's says it's not the SNAP benefits issues their guests have been dealing with during these uncertain times.
"Honestly, we're not that impacted," Schroeder said. "Less than 10% of our guests receive SNAP, mostly because they are the working poor and they make more money [than] SNAP benefits [allow]. We're over 60% Hispanic, so we have a lot of other issues that affect our guests."
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