No Limits Outreach Ministries usually distributes food to about 1,000 people a week, Monday through Friday.

But now, the increased demand from furloughed federal employees and the looming loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from the government shutdown have disrupted food bank operations across the state.

The Landover ministry is considering giving out lower quantities of food to each recipient to feed more people.

“I think it’s just [about] being mindful that [there are] a lot of people in need,” Oliver Carter, the ministry’s senior pastor, said. “We can only do so much.”

A notice published on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website said the government shutdown will stop nationwide distribution of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, commonly referred to as food stamps, on Nov. 1. This means the about 11 percent of Prince George’s County residents who rely on food assistance benefits must find other ways to put food on the table.

[Gov. Wes Moore issues $10M to support food banks ahead of SNAP benefits pause]

Food banks have already seen an increase in recipients from furloughed federal workers, as the government enters its second month of the shutdown.

“It’s horrendous. People rely on these benefits,” District 3 Prince George’s County Council member Eric Olson said. “We already have a lot of food insecurity in our community and this is just cruel.”

Olson said he is working to inform his constituents about food distribution resources available in the county.

On Thursday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency ahead of the halt in SNAP benefits. He said $10 million in funds will be distributed to food banks across the state to help them provide more assistance to people in need.

Michele Gray, the treasurer and volunteer coordinator at Fort Washington Food Pantry, said the pantry is preparing for more people by placing a higher order with the Capital Area Food Bank, who it partners with. She added the pantry has gotten additional donations from other organizations in the area.

Passion and Compassion is an organization based in Prince George’s County that recovers produce that would have gone to waste and distributes it to food pantries in the area. Operations manager Kyle Slye said he expects even more people to seek out food assistance because of the loss of federal benefits.

“I believe that this is actually going to be the tipping point for more people to be coming out to these distributions,” Slye said. “A lot of people are not government employees but a lot of people rely on government assistance programs such as SNAP.”

[Here’s what to know about the nationwide pause in SNAP benefits]

To compensate for higher demand, Slye said the organization is planning to establish additional pop-up distributions in higher-need neighborhoods.

New Home Baptist Church assistant administrator Gerald Tillman told The Diamondback he has been sharing a list of food distribution organizations compiled by his county council member to people who have called for help. While the organization does host food giveaways at its site in Landover once a month, he said it runs out quickly.

Tillman said during food distribution last week, the organization’s October giveaway and the first since the shutdown began, it ran out of food packages in half the time as usual.

“The faith based churches and organizations are out here, and we are working together to try to provide the best service, whether that’s food, clothes, whatever it might be,” Tillman said.