Community Health & Wellness
FISH, other foods banks experiencing record demand due to government shutdown
Charlie Thompson counted at least 30 people outside Fishline food before it opened to shoppers on Monday morning. Lines are normal for the Poulsbo food bank, but the Fishline executive director described the number of people waiting as “mind-boggling.”
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Fishline has seen an “unbelievable surge” in need this week. About 150 families have come through its doors each day, roughly 30 more than average. Staff and volunteers have been busier than ever. Donations have been nonstop.
Food banks like Fishline have become a last line of defense for potentially thousands of low-income families on the Kitsap Peninsula waiting to receive their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits this month. The federal program, often referred to as food stamps, helps more than 900,000 Washingtonians purchase food each month.
North Kitsap Fishline volunteer Kathy Ruwe restocks the canned goods shelves at the food bank in Poulsbo on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025.
Two federal judges last week ordered the Trump Administration to continue paying SNAP benefits this month, despite the ongoing government shutdown, the Associated Press reported. The United States Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, initially refused to tap its billion-dollar contingency to fund the program past October.
But when or if people will receive benefits remains unclear, creating uncertainty for the roughly 41 million Americans and 115,000 households in Pierce County who rely on the federal food assistance program. Not all individuals receive their monthly SNAP benefits at the same time. But those who regularly get them on the first of the month have yet to see those funds materialize, Thompson said.
“We’re in a crisis of our own making,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it. We need to have a functioning government and have these anti-poverty programs.”
The government shutdown, now the longest in the nation’s history, compounds the situation. Federal workers have gone without pay since Oct. 1. Some have started going to local food banks.
Record month at FISH
Janice Coen, food bank coordinator for the Gig Harbor Peninsula Fish Food Bank, said October was the biggest month the food bank has ever had. They served 1,031 families, up from about 800 to 900 in a typical month. The first few days of November, she said, had been “wild.”
“So many of the [families] are new to us. We haven’t seen them in the past,” she said. “They’ve managed just fine and then this happens.”
Coen said the food bank had been blessed with donations and a steady supply of food. Gig Harbor Mayor Mary Barber announced the city had partnered with other local organizations to hold an ongoing food drive and encourage donations to help families impacted by the SNAP losses.
Clients shop at Gig Harbor Peninsula FISH food bank in 2022. Charlee Glock-Jackson
“The food banks have already been struggling because of the increase in need, because of cost increases,” Barber said. “And so to compound that already increased need with now the federal workers who haven’t been being paid and the SNAP benefits being delayed or running out, depending on how we want to look at it, it’s just putting even more pressure on those who get food to those in need.”
About 75 people come through Key Peninsula Community Services, which runs a small food pantry near Home, on a typical day, said its executive director Robyn Readwin. That rose to 137 on Tuesday.
Between the shutdown and SNAP loss, Thompson said the environment is unlike anything he has seen before. The only similar experience was the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, but even then SNAP benefits continued uninterrupted. They have never had SNAP benefits cut off before, he said.
SNAP is the country’s largest food assistance program. Its absence puts much more pressure on food banks. Even with their best efforts and an uptick in donations, Thompson said it will be hard for food banks to fill the gap left by SNAP.
“The challenge for us, for all food banks, is increasing our capacity,” Thompson said. “We’re an important part in providing food security, but we’re not used to being the only part.”
Community, state support food banks
During a typical day Fishline gets a couple donations at its back door, Thompson said. In the last few days he said it felt like an almost non-stop series of people bringing food, diapers and checks to his agency. It is a level of community support that he said rivals the early days of the pandemic.
“It takes all of us to step up and make this work,” he said. “It’s so important to recognize the generosity of our community. Those that have the ability of stepping up and making those contributions to make sure we can keep doing what we’re doing.”
Matthew Thomas III, of Poulsbo, shopped at Fishline on Monday. The 56-year-old said the community had really stepped up and praised the staff at Fishline. Thomas III said he previously received SNAP benefits, and had loved ones who still used the program.
“The community is responding and is ready to help each other,” he said. “That to me is amazing.”
Other support could be on the way both to Fishline and food banks across the state. Last week Gov. Bob Ferguson pledged to provide $2.2 million each week to food banks across the state.
Ferguson said in a statement on Oct. 31 payment of those funds would proceed if the federal government did not restore SNAP benefits by Nov. 1. He also blamed the Trump administration for withholding funding for the SNAP program.
“Multiple judges have made it clear: The Trump Administration must stop holding hungry families hostage,” he said. “The USDA has funds to provide these food benefits, and the Trump Administration needs to follow the law and do so.”
North Kitsap Fishline volunteer Rosemary Wheeler restocks the produce shelves on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. Wheeler has been a volunteer at the Poulsbo food bank for nearly 5 years.
