Last Thanksgiving, Las Vegas-based nonprofit Lutheran Social Services of Nevada (LSSN) distributed 800 turkeys to families in need.

This year, the nonprofit doesn’t know if it will have any turkeys to give away.

The federal shutdown’s funding freeze has imperiled food distribution efforts, which rely in part on federal grants. It’s forced the charity to not only reconsider its annual Thanksgiving meal drive but to shut the doors of its food pantry on Oct. 23.

“What hurts us as individuals that work here is not only that we are struggling, but we don’t know where else to send them,” said Tim Bedwell, executive director of LSSN. “Because the system as a whole is strained to its limits.”

Food assistance groups across Nevada are facing tighter budgets this fall even as need is rising, with some reporting demand higher than during the COVID pandemic. The financial strain stems from the shutdown, federal cuts to food assistance programs approved over the summer and as cost of living outstrips wage growth, plus higher grocery costs. All of it means food banks and pantries’ dollars aren’t going as far as they have in the past. 

In 2023, 15 percent of Nevadans — nearly 482,000 people — were reportedly food insecure, a little higher than the national average of 14 percent. 

This year, those numbers are likely to increase even further. 

The ongoing federal government shutdown means that on Nov. 1, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were not sent as planned to nearly half a million Nevadans. Though legal efforts to release billions in withheld federal SNAP contingency funding were successful Friday and state-led efforts to give more than $38 million to food pantries advanced Thursday, losing even part of the estimated $90 million in monthly SNAP benefits weighs heavily on those in the state’s food assistance ecosystem.

Despite rulings from judges ordering the use of the more than $5 billion federal contingency fund, it’s unclear when money will reach the estimated 42 million people across the country who rely on SNAP benefits or how much individuals will receive. The Trump administration has indicated that it could take weeks to provide November payments and the amounts could be half of what individuals usually receive from the program.

The Food Bank of Northern Nevada (FBNN) is projecting a 25 percent surge in demand as the SNAP benefits drop off — equal to about 40,000 new people seeking food bank services for the first time. 

Furloughed federal employees and Nevadans struggling to keep up with rising costs have contributed to a 16 percent jump in people coming to Three Square, Southern Nevada’s primary food bank, in the past four months, with data indicating that three-quarters of these clients were coming to the food bank for the first time. 

Dawn Blundell is a senior pastor at Fallon’s Epworth United Methodist Church who helps coordinate a food pantry and hot meal services as part of a broader coalition of faith-based and community groups. She said for cultures around the world, the holidays are traditionally a season to gather and celebrate after the planting and harvesting that takes place during spring and summer.

“You’re really aware of how much we all need each other, and you’re so grateful for what has been provided,” she said.

Access to Thanksgiving food is a “dignity issue,” argued Major Kyle Smith, the Clark County coordinator for the Salvation Army of Southern Nevada. He said that annual food drives such as one his organization runs helps many parents avoid having to explain to their children that they couldn’t afford a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Kelli Kelly, who advises on food systems for the Nevada Small Business Development Center, said she worries that kids who lack access to a shared meal on Thanksgiving will feel excluded. 

“Every child deserves to feel like they belong at the table,” Kelly said. 

“I don’t want to turn people away” 

The national nonprofit Feeding America has estimated that for every one meal provided by food charity organizations, SNAP covers nine meals. 

The loss of November SNAP benefits further underscores the need for operating food pantries, Bedwell said. But the federal shutdown led LSSN to temporarily cease operating its pantry last Thursday, pausing an operation that for decades has offered free food to community members  and helped approximately 4,000 people every month. 

LSSN’s pantry relies on federal grants to operate but it has not received federal reimbursements for spending since July, Bedwell told The Indy. At the end of September, Bedwell received word that federal agencies had caught up on their backlog and would be releasing money soon. 

Then the shutdown began. He said it forced the pantry to rely on donations until that money dried up, too.

“I don’t want to turn people away,” Bedwell said, describing how daily visitors to the pantry shot up from an average of 150 people last year to a record high of 400 visitors one day in September. “Now we have to turn away everyone.” 

The LSSN pantry needs $40,000 to restart operations — enough to sustain it for another two weeks, Bedwell estimated.

“We are in a really tough time right now”

Struggles to support anti-hunger efforts aren’t only affecting Southern Nevada.

The Food Bank of Northern Nevada (FBNN), the primary food distribution organization in Washoe County and surrounding areas, has seen an uptick in visitors in 2025. 

Jocelyn Lantrip, the director of marketing and communication for the FBNN, estimated that 160,000 people in Northern Nevada need help every month — the highest number of people the food bank has ever seen. She said “that is not a great recipe” when combined with fewer food donations coming in the door and cuts to federal funding for food programs.

“We are in a really tough time right now,” she said.

Nevadans worried about losing access to food programs can use The Indy’s list of resources here. 

The federal government is responsible for a significant share of the nutritional provisions distributed by food banks such as Three Square and FBNN. Lantrip estimated that 27.5 percent of the food FBNN gives out comes from federal sources. Earlier this year, Three Square reduced the amount of food its pantries give to each visitor, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture slashed those food resources. 

Broader economic uncertainties have also made it more difficult to solicit donations, especially during the holidays when some Nevadans face increased financial burdens from holiday gifts and travel, explained Beth Martino, president of Three Square. Leslie Marine, director of media relations with the Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, said the charity always anticipates “our numbers to double during the holidays.” 

Martino said she’s seen increasing demand for food from “people who never expected to be in this position.”

Three Square will maintain its planned Thanksgiving programming this year, including its long-running tradition of handing out food boxes with the Las Vegas Raiders. 

But Martino said that the struggles facing other food groups hurt Three Square, too.

“No one organization can do it alone,” Martino said. “When any part of that network is breaking down, that makes things more difficult all across the community.” 

Resources and support remain

Though FBNN operated a Thanksgiving food boxes program during the pandemic with support from American Rescue Plan Act dollars, it did not continue the program after the funding ended because of the cost.

Lantrip said the organization hasn’t had the resources to continue hosting the program and wanted to prioritize getting enough food to as many people as possible.

The FBNN is pointing clients to other partners in Northern Nevada that do offer Thanksgiving meals.

Multiple food assistance organizations confirmed to The Indy that they will continue to host holiday food drives this year, including the Salvation Army of Southern Nevada, Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, The Community Food Pantry, Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada and the Las Vegas Metro Police Department Foundation. 

Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada said providing Thanksgiving meals is so critical that the organization orders its frozen turkeys in February to guarantee it has enough supplies for families come November.

Groups that host these programs say the demand this year is difficult to meet. Tod Kilton, who runs a Thanksgiving meals program with his wife, told The Indy on Thursday that he was hoping to reach 500 Las Vegas families this holiday season, after they served 300 families last fall. 

“We don’t even scratch the iceberg of what is needed,” Kilton said. 

The need stretches into rural Nevada. Along with serving as pastor in Fallon, Blundell works as co-director at The Wolf Center Community Services, where she’s noticed increased usage of the center’s hot meals program, food pantry and its other resources such as showers and laundry.

Worried about the looming crisis, she and other local organizations met Tuesday to coordinate hunger relief efforts in the coming months, including hosting a community Thanksgiving dinner the Monday before the holiday.

She wants to keep the momentum going even past the holiday period. 

But even as they work to meet rising needs, Blundell said her big worry is that people may not accept help.

“If you fight through the shame and [accept support], that is a huge gift to yourself spiritually, to see how much people care about you and how important community is,” she said. “Speaking as a pastor, God is working through so many people to reach you and help you and take care of you, and you are worth it. You’re not a jerk, because you haven’t prepared for this ahead of time.”